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THE  EARLY  YEARS 


OF   THE 


FRENCH  REVOLUTION 


IN 


SAN  DOMINGO. 


PRESENTED   TO   THE    FACULTY   OF   THE    CORNELL 

UNIVERSITY  AS   A  THESIS  FOR  THE  DEGREE 

OF  DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY, 

JULY,  1889. 


HERBERT  ELMER  IVJILLS, 

Associate  Professor  of  History  and  Economics  in  Vassar  College. 
Recently  Fellow  and  Instructor  in  History^  Cornell  University, 


PREtS  OP  A.  V.  HAIQHT,  POUQHKEIMIC,  N.  T. 


PRESERVATION 
COPY  ADDED 
ORIGVINALTOBE 
IRETAINED 


APR  3  0  1993 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1892,  by  Herbert  Elmer  Mills, 
in  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


M!;NRr  MORSE  STSPi,«N« 


•*         ••••••         • 


PREFACE. 

The  following  pages  are  an  attempt  to  extend  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  French  Revolution  in  its  phases  out  of  Paris  by  a 
a  study  of  that  movement  in  the  chief  colony  of  France  at 
that  time.  The  subject  has  some  interest  from  the  stand- 
point of  American  History.  Ex-President  Andrew  D.  White 
of  Cornell  University,  while  in  San  Domingo  as  United 
States  Commissioner,  in  1 871,  collected  a  large  amount  of 
material  bearing  upon  the  history  of  both  the  French  and 
Spanish  parts  of  the  island.  To  this  material  many  addi- 
tions have  since  been  made  with  generous  purchases  since  I 
began  to  use  it.  This  collection  and  the  general  sources  upon 
the  French  Revolution  in  the  White  Library  have  provided 
me  with  abundance  of  material.  My  chief  authority  upon 
the  political  relations  of  the  colony  to  France  has  been  the 
Archives  Par lement aires  which,  edited  from  the  archives  by 
Mm.  Mavidal  and  Laurent,  contains  much  not  found  in  the 
reports  of  the  proceedings  of  the  National  Assembly  con- 
tained in  the  Moniteur,  The  latter  has  been  of  great  assist- 
ance, giving  many  letters  and  news  items  from  the  colonies 
and  the  commercial  cities  of  France.  Both  of  these  funda- 
mental authorities  I  have  used  continually.  The  next  great 
source  has  been  Garran  de  Coulon's  Rapport  sur  les  Troubles 
de  Saint-Domingue,  fait  au  nom  de  la  Commission  des 
Colonnies  des  Comit^s  de  Salut  Public,  de  Legislation  et  de 
Marine,  This  work  in  four  volumes,  printed  by  order  of  the 
National  Convention  in  the  year  VI  of  the  Republic  is  a 
mine  of  material  otherwise  inaccessible.  Garran  had  access 
to  all  the  minutes  and  records  of  the  various  assemblies  of 
San  Domingo  and  of  the  organizations  in  Paris  interested  in 
one  or  another  of  the  colonial  factions.  He  quotes  at  length 
from  many  documents,  cites  his  authorities  continually, 
shows  discrimination  and  a  desire  to  be  impartial.  He  had 
thorough  personal  knowledge  of  the  men  and  events  of  his 

86r>713 


4  Preface, 

time.  He  reveals  some  of  the  general  prejudices  of  the  ex- 
treme republican  era,  and  from  some  of  his  conclusions  I 
have  dissented.  Most  of  the  general  histories  of  the  island 
were  written  in  the  early  part  of  this  century  or  the  last 
of  the  last  century,  were  based  on  Garran  and  have  been  of 
little  use  to  me.  Rainsford  is  utterly  unreliable  ;  Edwards 
and  Madiou  give  little  that  is  new  ;  Ardouin  and  Madiou  ad- 
mit that  their  works  are  based  on  Garran  for  this  period. 
After  the  three  chief  sources  named,  next  in  importance  are 
the  contemporaneous  tracts,  memoirs,  speeches,  newspapers 
and  letters.  The  White  Library  contains  several  hundred 
pamphlets  of  this  sort  relating  to  this  subject,  all  of  which 
I  examined.  Among  them  I  may  mention  as  especially  use- 
ful the  numerous  tracts  and  speeches  of  Gouy  d'  Arsy  which 
throw  light  on  the  proceedings  of  the  Colonial  Committee 
in  France  up  to  the  beginning  of  1790.  I  have  tried  to  use 
these  authorities  critically,  to  avoid  beihg  misled  by  the 
prejudices  of  the  times,  and  to  depend  more  upon  the  un- 
conscious and  unfortunate  admissions  of  a  man  or  party  in 
his  or  its  own  statements  than  upon  what  these  documents 
might  say  about  the  opposing  party.  As  a  slight  excuse  for 
unfortunate  style  and  occasional  apparent  neglect  to  con- 
sider at  length  divergent  views,  I  may  be  allowed  to  say 
that  when  submitted  as  a  thesis  for  the  doctorate,  this  study 
was  nearly  twice  its  present  length,  but  that  before  printing 
I  found  it  necessary  to  shorten  by  excising  many  long  quota- 
tions from  documents  and  to  condense  many  discussions. 

As  have  so  many  others,  I  must  express  my  thanks  to 
Ex-President  White  for  the  use  of  his  Library  and  for  his 
generous  additions  to  it.  The  use  of  this  library  was  made 
possible  by  the  Librarian,  Professor  George  L.  Burr  from 
whom  I  received  many  valuable  suggestions. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


IN  TR  OD  UC  TION. 
Importance  of  San  Domingo  .... 
Early  History  and  Geography      ,         .         .         . 

Prosperity  in  1789 

Commercial  Restrictions 

Classes  of  the  Population 

Prejudices  against  the  People  of  Color 
Slaves  and  their  Treatment  .         .         . 

Government   of  the  Colony         .         .         .         . 
Causes  of  Dissension  and  Weakness 


CHAPTER  I. 
San  Domingo  secures  Representation  in  the  National  Assembly. 
Attempts  to  secure  admission  to  the  States  General 
The  Governor  is  asked  to  call  Assemblies 
Unauthorized  Assemblies   meet  .... 

Election  of  deputies  ;  the  cahiers        .... 

Attempts  to  secure  admission  to  the  States  General  . 

Provisional  admission  at  the  Tennis  Court 

Final  admission  of  six  delegates  .... 

The  Amis  des  Noirs      ....... 

Dissensions  among  the  Planters  ;  the  Club  Massiac    . 

CHAPTER  II, 

The  People  of  Color  begin  Agitation. 
Renewed  Agitation  for  Abolition  of  Slavery       .... 
Attempts  of  the  Planters  to  secure  a  Colonial  Assembly     . 
People  of  Color  petition  the  National  Assembly 
Their  Representatives  said  to  have  been  elected  in  the  Colony 

They  were  actually  elected  in  Paris 

They  are  not  admitted  to  the  Assembly 

CHAPTER  III, 
The  Beginning  of  the  Revolution  in  the  Colony. 

Scarcity  of  food  in  the  Colony 

Du  Chilleau  and  Marbois      . 

The  former  opens  the  ports 

Committees  of  Correspondence 

Effect  of  the  Fourteenth  of  July  and  the  Declaration  of  Rights 

Marbois  is  obliged  to  leave  the  island 

Early  Assemblies  and  Committees 


9 
10 
II 
12 

13 
16 

19 
21 
24 


26 
28 
28 
29 
30 
30 
31 
32 
33 


34 
35 
35 
36 

37 

38 


39 
40 
40 

41 
42 

43 
44 


Table  of  Contents, 


Origin  of  the  Assembly  of  the  North  ;  its  early  acts 
Legislative  bodies  formed  in  the  other  provinces 
The  attitude  of  the  Governor  to  the  Assemblies 
The  Superior  Council  and  the  Assembly  of  the  North 
Relations  of  the  Governor  and  the  Assemblies 
Persecution  of  the  People  of  Color      .... 
Leaders  in  the  North  and  their  quarrels 


CHAPTER  IV. 
The  National  Assembly  lays  down  a  Constitutional  Basis  for  the  Colony. 

The  affairs  of  the  colony  are  brought  before  the  National  Assembly 

The  proposal  for  a  colonial  committee  rejected 

Different  views  as  to  the  relations  of  France  and  the  colony     . 

The  ministerial  plan  for  a  colonial  assembly  rejected  in  the  colony 

The  provincial  assemblies  agree  on  a  plan 

Decree  of  the  Eighth  of  March  .... 

Objections  of  the  People  of  Color      .... 

Instructions  of  the  Twenty-eighth  of  March 

The  result  due  to  the  efforts  of  the  colonial  deputation 

CHAPTER   V. 
The  Early  Days  of  the  General  Assembly. 

Composition  of  the  Assembly  of  St.  Marc 

Its  early  measures 

Commercial  interests  antagonistic  to  it 

News  of  the  Decree  of  the  Eighth  of  March 

Act  of  the  Twenty-eighth  of  May 

Provincial  Assemblies  protest  against  the  General  Assembly    . 

Act  of  the  First  of  June 

Instructions  of  the  General  Assembly  to  the  Colonial   Deputies   in 

Paris 

Opposition  in  the  Colony  to   the   General  Assembly 
The  General  Assembly  sends  Commissioners  to  the  North 

Mutual  recriminations 

Relations  of  the  Governor  and  the  General  Assembly 

Enemies  of  the  General  Assembly  unite 

CHAPTER   VI. 
The  Ratification  and  Dissolution  of  the  General  Assembly. 

The  Colony  approves  the  course  of  the  General  Assembly 

The  Assembly  declares  itself  renewed 

The  troops  refuse  to  obey  the  General  Assembly        .... 

Mauduit 

Weakness  of  the  General  Assembly 

It  opens  the  ports  :  and  tries  to  win  over  the  troops 

Mutiny  on  the  Leopard 


45 
45 
46 
46 
47 
47 
48 


50 
51 
52 
53 
53 
54 
55 
55 
57 


58 
58 

59 
60 
61 
61 
62 

63 
63 
64 
64 
65 
65 


66 
67 
67 
68 
69 
69 
70 


Table  of  Contents.  7 

De  Peinier  declares  the  Assembly  dissolved 71 

Dissolution  of  the  Committee  of  the  West 71 

The  Assembly  of  the  North  proceeds  against  the  General  Assembly  72 

The  General  Assembly  appeals  to  the  people 72 

Strength  of  the  Assembly  at  St.  Marc 73 

It  sails  for  France 73 

CHAPTER   VII, 
The  General  Assembly  in  France, 

Reception  at  Brest 74 

Its  connection  with  the  mutiny  at  Brest 75 

Unpopularity  of  the  General  Assembly  in  France      .         .        .         .  75 

It  appears  before  the  National  Assembly 76 

Barnave's  report  adopted,  12th  October      ......  77 

The  Assembly  charged  with  having  plotted  independence         .        .  77 

CHAPTER  VIII, 

The  People  of  Color  before  the  Act  of  the  Twelfth  of  October, 

Early  concessions  to  them 7g 

Outrage  and  persecution      .         .         .         .         .         .         .        .         .  80 

The  attitude  of  the  General  Assembly  toward  them         ...  80 

CHAPTER  IX. 
San  Domingo  after  the  Departure  of  the  General  Assembly. 

Its  cause  not  lost 82 

Dissensions  among  its  enemies 82 

The  Peace  of  L6ogane 83 

The  Confederation  of  the  South 83 

Weakness  of  the  Assembly  of  the  North 84 

Retirement  of  de  Peinier 85 

CHAPTER  X. 

Oge*s  Rebellion, 

The  formation  of  his  plan 86 

He  reaches  San  Domingo ,        ,  87 

Proclaims  his  purposes 87 

Defeated  and  captured 88 

Trial  and  condemnation .  89 

Consideration  of  his  real  motives .  89 

CHAPTER  XI, 
The  Power  of  the  Government  Overthrown. 

Mutinous  troops  arrive  from  France 91 

The  old   and   new  troops  mutiny 92 

Death  of  Mauduit        . 93 

New  local  governments  organized 93 

Blanchelande  and  the  Assembly  of  the  North 94 


8  Table  of  Contents. 

CHAPTER   XII. 
The  Decree  of  the  Fifteenth  of  May,  ijgi. 

Act  of  the  First  of  February,  1 791 *        .  95 

The  case  of  the  Eighty-five  referred  to  a  new  committee    ...  96 

Barnave 96 

A  conservative  act  proposed  by   the  new   committee        ...  97 

The  debate 97 

Rewbell's  amendment  passed 98 

Importance  and  effect  of  this  act 98 


INTRODUCTION. 

The  great  struggle  between  France  and  England  for  colo- 
nial supremacy  was,  when  the  French  Revolution  broke  out, 
practically  completed.  Napoleon  attempted  to  regain  what 
had  been  lost,  but  never  did  he  seriously  endanger  the  posi- 
tion of  England  as  the  mistress  of  seas  and  colonies.  A 
century  had  seen  great  changes  in  the  relative  powers  of 
these  great  rivals  and  every  war  had  cost  France  valuable 
possessions.  Nova  Scotia,  Newfoundland,  India,  Canada, 
are  the  names  of  the  greater  prizes  only  which  were  handed 
over  to  England;  and  in  1763  France,  which  had  once 
promised  to  be  unquestioned  ruler  out  of  Europe  as  well  as 
in  it,  could  point  to  but  few  colonies  and  these  comparatively 
insignificant.  By  common  consent  San  Domingo  was  placed 
first  among  French  foreign  dependencies,  particularly  on  ac- 
count of  its  wealth  and  enormous  exports.  "  Immediately 
before  the  Revolution  this  island  had  attained  a  height  of 
prosperity  not  surpassed  in  the  history  of  European  colonies. 
The  greatest  part  of  its  soil  was  covered  by  plantations  on 
a  gigantic  scale,  which  supplied  half  Europe  with  sugar, 
coffee  and  cotton.  In  1788  it  exported  produce  to  the  value 
of  150  million  francs  to  France,  four-fifths  of  which  was  re- 
exported to  the  north  of  Europe  by  the  French  dealers,  who 
were  always  ready  to  support  the  planters,  when  necessary, 
with  the  whole  power  of  their  capital.  The  good  fortune 
of  the  island  had  been  still  further  enhanced  by  the  passing 
of  a  measure  in  1786  by  which  —  contrary  to  the  system  of 
monopoly  generally  adhered  to  —  the  colony  was  allowed  to 
trade  directly  with  foreign  countries.  Since  that  time  the 
planters  had  doubled  their  products  and  a  large  amount  of 
French  capital  poured  into  the  island  for  investment  —  a 
hundred  millions  from  Bordeaux  alone.  The  returns  were 
already  splendid  and  still  greater  were  expected.  The 
planters  lived  like  Princes  ;  all  the  luxuries  of  a  tropical 
climate  and  of  European  civilization  were  at  their  command. 
On  their  vast  estates  they  ruled  over  thousands  of  negro 
slaves  without  feeling  any  power  above  them  ;  and  since  the 
emancipation  of  the  American  colonies,  they  had  occasion- 
ally asked  themselves  why  they  still  remained  in  dependence 
on  the  mother  country.'" 

*  Von  Sybel.  History  of  the  French  Revolution.  Translation.  (London, 
1867)  i.,  405,406. 


10  Introduction, 

The  successive  steps  by  which  this  prosperous  condition 
had  been  attained  form  a  history  which  it  would  be  both 
interesting  and  profitable  to  consider  did  our  purpose  allow. 
Founded  by  those  roving  spirits,  scarcely  better  than  pirates, 
who  followed  the  Spaniards  into  the  new  world,  the  colony, 
which  then  centered  on  the  little  island  Tortuga  but  gradu- 
ally spread  over  the  western  half  of  San  Domingo,  had  an 
exciting  and  precarious  growth.  The  original  settlers,  the 
Spaniards,  did  their  best  to  dispossess  these  bold  buccaneers, 
three  times,  at  least,  driving  them  completely  away.  But 
the  hardy  enterprising  plunderers,  recognizing  allegiance  to 
no  country  and  composed  of  various  nationalities,  although 
principally  French  and  English,  invariably  returned  to  their 
old  haunts  which  so  well  served  their  purposes.  From  their 
safe  harbors  they  could  easily  sally  forth  to  plunder  the  rich 
commerce  of  Spain  ;  the  great  herds  of  wild  cattle  on  the 
plains  furnished  not  only  beef  but  hides  which  were  a  profit- 
able article  of  commerce.  With  rulers  chosen  from  their 
own  number  and  in  absolute  independence,  the  buccaneers 
lived  a  worthless,  happy  life,  entirely  free  from  restraint  of 
either  external  power  or  moral  consciousness.  It  was  not 
until  a  fierce  dissension  between  the  French  and  English 
members  compelled,  that  help  from  the  outside  was  called 
in.  Aided  by  the  French  governor  at  St.  Christoph,  the 
former  succeeded  in  expelling  the  English,  and  from  that 
time  the  Anglo-Saxons  have  never  had  control  of  either 
part  of  the  island.  Among  the  French  governors,  d' Ogeron 
merits  the  first  place  both  for  his  energy  and  his  wisdom. 
His  efforts,  always  exerted  for  the  improvement  of  the  moral 
and  social  condition  of  the  colonists,  resulted  in  large  immi- 
gration. It  was  not  until  the  peace  of  Ryswick  in  1697  that 
the  Spanish  recognized  the  French  settlement  by  ceding  the 
western  half  of  the  island.  From  that  time  the  growth  of 
the  colony  was  rapid,  the  John  Law  scheme  producing  in 
in  1722  the  only  important  rebellion.'' 

The  French  colony,  occupying  the  western  end  of  the 
island,  contained  about  one-third  of  its  area,  and  was  nearly 
coextensive  with  what  is  now  Hayti.  It  was  very  irregular 
in  shape,  varying  in  width  from  twenty  to  one  hundred  and 
seventy  miles.  Its  greatest  extent  in  a  north  and  south  line 
was  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles.     Its  soil  was 

'  The  authorities  on  the  early  history  of  San  Domingo  are  Charlevoix 
Histoire  de r Isle  Espagnole  ou  de  S.  Domingue  (Amsterdam,  1733),  4  vols.; 
and  Raynal  Histoire  Philosophique  et  Politique  des  ^tablissements  des  Eti- 
rop^ens  dans  les  deux  Indes.  (Gendve,  1781),  10  vols.     See  vols.  6  and  7. 


Introduction,  1 1 

very  fertile  and  for  the  most  part  arable.  It  was  well 
watered  and  produced  luxuriantly  tropical  fruits  and  woods. 
There  were  three  provinces  in  the  colony  ;  namely,  those  of 
the  North,  of  the  West  and  of  the  South,  of  which  that  of 
the  North  was  the  richest  and  most  important.  Its  princi- 
pal towns  were  those  of  Cap  Frangais  (now  Cape  Haytien), 
Port  de  Paix,  and  Cap  St.  Nicholas.  Cap  Frangais,  com- 
monly known  as  the  Cape,  was  the  seat  of  the  government 
in  time  of  war,  and,  says  Edwards,  '*  would  have  ranked  for 
beauty  and  regularity  among  the  cities  of  the  second  class 
in  any  part  of  Europe.'"  The  Province  of  the  West  was 
second  in  importance  and  contained  a  number  of  towns,  of 
which  Port-au-Prince,  the  capital  of  the  island,  St.  Marc, 
Leogane,  Petit  Goave,  Gonaives  and  Croix-des-Bouquets 
were  the  largest.  The  Province  of  the  South  was  small  in 
area,  possessed  few  towns  of  importance  and  no  good  har- 
bors.    Cayes  was  its  chief  mart. 

In  the  eighteenth  century  the  importance  of  a  colony  was 
estimated  by  the  amount  of  its  commerce,  and  particularly 
by  the  amount  which  was  carried  on  with  the  mother  coun- 
try. From  this  standpoint  France  had  every  reason  to  be 
interested  in  promoting  the  welfare  of  San  Domingo,  for  its 
trade  was  a  constantly  increasing  source  of  wealth  to  her. 
The  student  of  economic  history  would  find  it  a  profitable 
subject  of  investigation  to  attempt  to  ascertain  the  causes 
for  the  great  disparity  in  the  conditions  of  the  French  and 
of  the  Spanish  parts  of  the  island.  The  latter,  that  old 
Hispaniola  of  which  Columbus  gives  such  charming  ac- 
counts in  his  letters,  whose  natural  products  and  mines 
seemed  to  promise  for  the  larger  Spain  inexhaustible  wealth, 
had,  during  the  eighteenth  century,  shown  no  growth  and  was 
in  a  wretched  condition  both  as  concerned  production  and 
commerce  ;  while  the  French  colony  with  precisely  the 
same  conditions  of  soil,  climate,  and  distance  from  Europe 
had  revealed  in  the  seventy  years  before  the  Revolution 
wonderful  progress.*  There  were  evident  signs  of  increas- 
ing wealth,  happiness  and  culture.  Between  1716  and  1789 
the  annual  imports  of  France  from  her  American  colonies 
increased  from  16,700,000  livres  to  185,000,000  livres.^ 

The  total  value  of  the  exports   of  San  Domingo  in  1789 

^  Edwards,  An  Historical  Survey  of  the  French  Colony  in  the  Island  of  St, 
Domingo  being  volume  third  in  The  History^  Civil  and  Commercial  of  the 
British  Colonies  in  the  West  Indies.    3  vols.  (London,  1801),  159. 

^Garran,  Rapport  sur  les  Troubles  de  Saint- Domin^ue.  4  vols.  (Paris, 
an  VI  de  la  Republique),  i.,  37. 

nbid,  i.,  37,38, 


12  Introduction, 

were  175,900,000  francs  or  about  $32,000,000.'  This  was 
the  legal  trade,  in  addition  to  which  there  was  considerable 
smuggling  carried  on.  The  principal  articles  of  export  were 
sugar  to  the  value  of  84,026,726  francs  ;  coffee,  48,598,276 
francs;  cotton,  21,012,820  francs  ;  indigo,  3,607,832  francs, 
and  a  large  amount  of  other  tropical  products.'  Of  the  en- 
tire amount  of  imports  from  the  American  colonies  France 
consumed  only  a  little  over  two-fifths,  re-exporting  the  re- 
mainder.® The  importance  of  the  commerce  with  San  Do- 
mingo for  the  business  interests  of  France  led  the  merchants 
of  Bordeaux  and  other  ports  to  take  an  active  part  in  the 
subsequent  struggle  of  the  colony  to  preserve  its  commercial 
rights,  and  especially  in  their  attempt  to  prevent  any  revo- 
lution in  industry  by  emancipation  of  the  slaves."  A  certain 
amount  of  trade,  partly  legal  and  partly  illicit  was  carried  on 
with  the  Spanish  part  of  the  island,  with  Jamaica  and  with 
New  England." 

After  the  India  companies  had  been  dissolved  in  1724, 
trade  was  in  1727  made  free  to  all  French  merchants  but 
forbidden  to  those  of  other  nationalities.  The  superiority 
of  England's  navy  during  the  wars  that  occupied  the  suc- 
ceeding years  made  starvation  inevitable  in  the  island  if  the 
prohibition  laws  were  enforced,  so  that  smuggling  was  con- 
nived at.  This  was  especially  the  case  during  the  Seven 
Years'  War  when  large  numbers  of  slaves  died  of  hunger. 
In  1767  two  ports  of  entry  were  established  by  France  in 
her  American  colonies,  one  of  them  being  the  Mole  St.- 
Nicholas  in  San  Domingo.  Here  foreigners  could  bring 
only  rice,  lumber,  vegetables  and  live  animals,  the  importa- 
tion of  salted  meats  and  fish  being  forbidden.  Little  relief 
followed  from  this  measure,  owing  to  the  difficulty  of  com- 
munication of  the  greater  part  of  the  island  with  this  city, 
the  coasting  trade  being  dangerous.  The  expenses  of  car- 
riage and  the  extortions  of  the  merchants  at  this  port  often 
quadrupled  the  price  of  goods  delivered  on  shipboard  as 
compared  with  what  the  planter  received.  A  great  earth- 
quake in  1770  brought  terrible  famine  but  no  more  legisla- 

^  Placide- Justin,  Histoire  Politique  et  Statisque  de  VIsle  d'Hayti^  SainU 
Domingue  (Paris,  1826),  505. 

'  Table  compiled  by  Wante  and  given  in  Dalmas,  Histoire  de  la  Revolution 
de-Saint-Domingue.  2  vols.  (Paris,  1814).  ii.,  294.  The  figures  are  for  the 
year  1789. 

8  Raynal,  vii.,  140,  141. 

^  Archives  Parlementairesy  xi.,  698.699,  761  ;  xii.,  7.  62.  Moniteur  Uni- 
versel,  1791,  528. 

>OGarran,   i.,37. 


Introduction,  13 

tive  relief.  Then  followed  the  American  war,  during  which 
the  prohibitions  were  somewhat  relaxed  in  favor  of  the 
Anglo-Americans.  The  smuggling  trade  became  so  great 
that  in  1784  the  one  port  of  entry  was  suppressed  and  the 
three  ports  of  Cap  Frangais,  Port-au-Prince  and  St.  Louis 
were  opened  to  the  free  introduction  of  lumber,  live  cattle  of 
all  kinds  and  of  salt  beef.  These  regulations  were  strictly 
enforced  although  the  governor  seems  to  have  been  allowed, 
in  case  of  famine,  to  open  the  ports  for  a  short  time  for  the 
admission  of  food,  with  the  provision  that  any  regulation  to 
this  effect  made  by  him  must  at  once  be  forwarded  to  the 
Minister  of  Marine  for  his  approval." 

The  population  of  the  colony  in  1789  is  variously  stated 
by  different  writers,  the  estimates  varying  from  that  of 
Garran,  who  places  it  at  5oo,ocx)''  to  that  of  Madiou,"  whose 
estimate  is  812,000.  It  is  probable  that  the  real  number 
was  somewhere  between  550,000  and  600,000,  including  465,- 
000  to  500,000  slaves,  30,000  whites  and  a  third  class  of 
free  people  of  color  whose  numbers  probably  amounted  to 
from  25,000  to  30,000'*  although  there  are  the  most  diverse 
estimates.  The  number  of  slaves  was  eight  or  nine  times 
as  many  as  that  of  the  whites.  As  a  large  share  of  the 
troubles  that  subsequently  arose  were  caused  by  the  oppos- 
ing interests  of  the  three  castes  just  mentioned,  some  knowl- 
edge of  their  origin,  characteristics  and  relations  must  be 
had. 

First  in  influence,  wealth  and  social  rank  were  the  white 
inhabitants  of  the  island.  But  they  were  of  various  sets, 
whose  characteristics  and  interests  were  so  different  as  to 
forbid  common  description.  Oldest  in  family  and  most 
aristocratic  in  feeling  were  the  Creoles,  descended  from 
Frenchmen  who  had  early  come  to  the  colony.  Although 
these  families  could  have  no  pride  in  their  origin,  since  they 
were,  for  the  most  part,  descendants  of  criminals  and  women 
of  the  lowest  character  who  early  sought  the  island  or  were 
banished  there,  long  residence,  great  wealth  and  almost  un- 
limited power  on  their  estates  had  given  them  the  exclusive- 
ness  and  haughtiness  of  bearing  which  are  the  distinguish- 
ing marks  of  aristocracies.  There  was  a  gulf  not  only  be- 
tween them  and  the  colored  people  but  also  between  them 

"  See  Arrets  in  references  51  and  53. 
"i.,  13. 

^^ Histoirg  d' Haiti,  3  vols.     (Port-au-Prince,  1847),  i.,  29. 
^^  Archives,  xxvi.,  67,71.     Garran,  i.,  16,18;  Madiou,  i.,29;    Placide- 
Justin,  144,  145. 


14  Introduction, 

and  the  whites  who  had  more  recently  come  to  the  island  to 
hold  government  positions  or  for  the  purpose  of  gaining  a 
fortune.  For  the  most  part  planters  rather  than  merchants, 
living  on  their  large  estates  with  hundreds,  even  thousands, 
of  slaves  ;  amusing  themselves  with  frequent  fetes  at  which 
entertainment  was  provided  by  musicians,  dancers  and  actors 
brought  from  France ;  sending  their  children  to  Europe  to 
be  educated,  after  they  had  reached  a  stage  where  the 
services  of  European  tutors  were  no  longer  sufficient ;  allying 
themselves  with  the  noble  families  of  the  mother  country  ; 
in  short,  enjoying  all  the  luxuries  and  charms  of  life  that  the 
combined  resources  of  Europe  and  the  tropical  isles  could 
afford,  it  is  not  strange  that  they  should  have  revealed  traits 
of  character  marking  a  higher  caste,  or  that  the  expression 
"c'est  un  Creole  "  should  have  become  in  France  a  common 
means  of  designating  a  very  wealthy  man. 

The  common  traits  of  the  French  people  seem  to  have 
been  intensified  in  the  Creoles  by  the  climate  and  their  man- 
ner of  life.  They  possessed  in  a  high  degree  love  of  pleas- 
ure, sociability,  generosity,  acuteness,  frankness,  bravery  and 
fidelity,  but  they  were  lazy,  frivolous,  hot-tempered,  im- 
patient of  restraint  and  toward  their  inferiors,  especially 
their  slaves,  arrogant  and  even  cruel.  That  genius,  that 
love  for  science  and  that  sense  of  order  that  mark  the 
French  were  not  theirs.  The  Creole  women,  beautiful, 
voluptuous,  jealous,  shy  with  strangers  but  wholly  uncon- 
strained with  their  friends,  were  indolent  and  passionate 
even  to  old  age."  The  position  of  the  Creoles  in  the  colony 
was  somewhat  similar  to  that  of  the  southern  planters  of 
the  United  States  before  the  civil  war,  and  in  more  than  one 
respect  the  likeness  extended  to  personal  traits. 

Another  aristocratic  class  of  whites  rested  its  claim  to  su- 
periority on  a  different  basis  from  that  of  the  creole.  This 
was  the  official  class  sent  out  for  the  government  of  the 
island.  They  were  charged  with  despotic  rule,  were  fre- 
quently ignorant  of  the  welfare  of  the  colony  and  had  all 
that  cool  assumption  of  superiority  and  that  disdain  for 
those  around  them  which  so  commonly  mark  the  man  of  the 
metropolis  when  in  the  provinces. 

In  the  cities  were  to  be  found  also  the  merchants  who,  im- 
pelled by  a  desire  to  make  a  fortune,  came  to  San  Domingo, 
since  it  was  the  only  considerable  colony  left  to  France  and 
because  its  immense  commerce  promised  opportunities  for 

"Hillard    d'Auberteuil,    Considerations  sur  V  Etat   Prisent  de  la  Colonie 
Fran^aise  de  Saint- Domingue.     2  vols.  (Paris,  1777),  ii.,  25  seqq, 


Introduction,  15 

amassing  wealth  which  could  no  where  else  be  found  by  a 
Frenchman.  While  the  Creoles  lived  in  the  country  and 
were  content  to  take  life  easily  enjoying  it  from  day  to  day, 
the  more  recent  comers  to  the  island  made  up  the  greater 
part  of  the  city  population.  The  merchants  were,  for  the 
most  part,  young  men  who  had  lost  fortunes  and  character  in 
France,  bankrupts,  fugitive  monks,  retired  officers,  priests 
tired  of  their  profession.  In  a  class  where  a  ruined  set  so 
greatly  predominated  we  cannot  expect  to  find  many  virtues. 
Their  position  was  in  some  respects  like  that  of  the  Ameri- 
can miners  of  1848  who  in  a  strange  country  for  the  sake  of 
making  fortunes,  had  no  reputation  to  sustain  and  subjected 
themselves  to  no  restraint.  But  in  San  Domingo  the  en- 
vironment both  natural  and  social  led  to  indulgence  in 
vice  that  took  other  lines  than  among  the  gold  hunters. 
Tovyard  the  slaves  they  exhibited  the  greatest  harshness  and 
cruelties  ;  their  slave  girls  were  their  concubines,  but  the  po- 
sition of  these  unfortunates  was  not  accompanied  by  the 
ease  and  luxury  which  are  to  such  women  the  usual  com- 
pensation for  their  loss  of  virtue ;  they  were  made  to  work 
as  long  as  the  day  lasted,  were  insufficiently  clad  and  were 
deprived  of  the  money  which  they  earned  by  prostitution." 
Among  a  class  which  could  tolerate  such  a  low  state  of 
morals  there  could  have  been  little  of  that  strength  of  char- 
acter so  greatly  needed  in  the  ensuing  years. 

About  equal  to  the  planters  in  numbers,  there  was  a  third 
class  of  the  whites,  making  up  the  bulk  of  the  city  population. 
They  were  commonly  called  the  Petit s-B lanes.  They  were 
largely  artisans  but  among  them  were  included  inn-keepers, 
small  merchants,  slave  overseers  and  many  of  no  particular 
calling.  The  artisans  who  had  first  come  to  the  island,  had 
come  bound  to  service  for  a  term  of  years  and  were  known 
as  engages.  The  memory  of  this  forced  service  had  begot- 
ten a  kind  of  contempt  for  all  whites  who  earned  their  living 
by  manual  labor,  and  they  were  despised  not  alone  by  the 
planters  but  by  the  people  of  color."  In  their  number  were 
also  adventurers  and  many  who  had  fled  from  Europe  to 
escape  punishment  for  their  crimes.  They  were  of  different 
countries,  for  the  most  part  without  property,  and  ready  for 
any  revolution.  In  the  scenes  that  followed  they  were  con- 
spicuous.'^ 

*®  Hilliard  d'  Auberteuil,     ii.,  33  seqq. 

^■^  This  expression  is  used  not  as  a  euphemism  for  negroes  and  mulattoes 
but  as  a  technical  definite  term  for  all  free  negroes  and  mulattoes. 

^^  Garran,  i.,  pp.  20,  21  La  Croix,  M^moires  pour  servir  h  V Histoire  de 
la  Revolution  de  Saint- Domingue.     2  vols.  (Paris,  1819),  i. ,  20,  21,     Raimond, 


l6  Introduction, 

The  nature  of  the  climate,  and  the  disinclination  and  in- 
ability of  the  European  whites  to  marry  had  led  to  a  very 
universal  cohabitation  of  the  whites  with  the  colored  women. 
From  these  unlawful  unions  had  sprung  a  large  class  of  mu- 
lattoes  of  all  shades  of  color  and  degree  of  blood  mixture. 
As  early  as  the  time  of  Louis  XIV,  by  the  Black  Code  pub- 
lished in  1685,  that  monarch  had  attempted  by  heavy  fines 
and  manumission  to  put  an  end  to  this  rapidly  increasing 
concubinage.  It  was  provided  that  in  such  cases  the  slave 
and  her  children  should  become  free."  But  the  edict  seems 
to  have  been  of  little  effect  and  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
Revolution,  the  number  of  free  mulattoes  and  free  negroes 
was  nearly  equal  to  that  of  the  whites.  Some  of  these  had 
bought  their  freedom,  others  had  received  it  as  a  reward  for 
long  and  faithful  service,  but  for  the  most  part  their  liberty 
was  simply  a  result  of  dishonor.  **  The  sweet  promptings 
of  nature,  which  makes  itself  felt  even  by  the  harshest  ty- 
rants, have  rarely  allowed  the  whites  to  leave  in  slavery  the 
fruits  of  their  union  with  the  negro  race."  The  custom  of 
manumission  had  become  so  common  that  Hilliard  d'  Au- 
berteuil,  who  favored  a  recognized  concubinage  in  order  to 
escape  the  evils  of  public  prostitution,""  devotes  a  whole 
chapter  to  a  discussion  of  this  question  and  strongly  advo- 
cates restriction  or  prohibition  of  manumission.  He  main- 
tains that  the  good  order  of  the  colony  and  its  success  de- 
pends upon  preserving  the  various  ranks  of  the  people  and 
upon  holding  the  people  of  color  in  subjection.  However, 
no  such  regulation  had  been  made  and  these  unfortunate 
creatures  had  attained  a  considerable  degree  of  material 
prosperity  and  of  intelligence. 

So  strong  has  become  the  social  prejudice  against  the 
colored  people  in  our  day  that  it  may  seem  entirely  unneces- 
sary to  say  that  such  existed  in  the  French  colony  of  San 
Domingo.  The  separation  between  the  races  and  the  feel- 
ing against  miscegenation  are  now  so  marked  that  we  can 
scarcely  imagine  that  the  Caucasian  and  negro  once  associ- 
ated on  terms  of  comparative  equality,  yet  it  is  asserted  by 
one  whose  statements  are  worthy  of  credence,"  that  in  the 

M/moire  sur  les  Causes  des  Troubles  et  des  D^sastres  de  la  Colonie  de  Saint-Do- 
mingue.     (Paris,  1793)  8,  9. 

^^  Code  Noir^  article  9,  as  given  in  Madiou,  iii.,  443. 

'"ii.,  48. 

'^  Raimond.  Observations  sur  V  Origineet  les  Progrh  du  Pr^jugi des  Colons 
Blancs  contre  les  Homme s  de  Couleur.  (Paris,  1791).  Raimond  was  a  mu- 
latto, but  one  highly  respected  and,  apparently,  comparatively  free  from 
prejudice  and  unfairness. 


Introduction^  17 

early  history  of  the  colony  there  was  no  such  prejudice,  but 
that-  the  white  men  married  freely  with  the  mulattresses  and 
freely  associated  with  the  mulattoes.  Even  after  white 
women  began  to  come  to  the  island  the  preference  of  the 
planters  was  rather  for  the  colored  women,  who  to  certain 
charms  of  person,  addedconsiderable  wealth.  As  time  went 
on,  the  mulattoes  who  had  been  educated  in  France,  began 
to  return  and  to  compete  with  the  whites,  while  the  wealth 
and  importance  of  the  island  brought  many  white  women 
there  also.  These  women  were  very  naturally  jealous  of 
their  dusky  rivals,  and  endeavored  with  much  success,  to  re- 
legate them  to  what  seemed  their  appropriate  place," 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  earlier  feeling,  it  is  certain 
that  during  the  last  half  of  the  eighteenth  century  there  was 
bitter  hatred  between  the  two  classes  of  the  free  people. 
Measure  after  measure  was  passed  directed  against  the 
colored  inhabitants.  The  whites  were  forbidden  to  marry 
the  colored  women  of  however  light  a  shade,  even  in  order  to 
legitimize  their  children,  and  whites  who  had  married  colored 
women  were  removed  from  office.  The  mulattoes  had, 
before  1763,  held  office  in  the  militia,  but  they  were  now  de- 
prived of  their  rank.  They  were  forbidden  to  use  carriages, 
to  dress  after  the  manner  of  the  whites,  to  clothe  themselves 
with  the  same  materials  or  to  wear  jewels  ;  to  travel  in 
France  or  to  educate  their  children  there  ;  or  even  to  prac- 
tice surgery.  Whites  of  noble  birth  who  had  married  colored 
women  were  forbidden  the  privilege  of  recording  their  titles 
and  for  the  same  offence  were  even  declared  fallen  from  the 
class  of  whites.  It  was  even  proposed  that  the  colored 
people  be  deprived  of  the  European  names  which  they  bore 
and  be  compelled  to  assume  African  ones."  They  were, 
according  to  Bryan  Edwards,  prevented  from  holding  any 
public  office  or  trust,  and  were  not  allowed  to  engage  in  the 
professions  of  priest,  lawyer,  physician,  surgeon,  apothecary 
or  school  master.  The  same  writer  also  mentions  an  old 
law  in  which  it  was  provided  that  if  a  free  man  of  color 
should  strike  a  white  person,  he  should  lose  his  right 
hand,  while  a  white  man,  for  a  similar  offense,  should  be  dis- 

'^  See  also  Clausson  Precis  Historique  de  la  Revolution  de  Saint- Domingue, 
This  author  was  a  white  proprietor  of  the  aristocratic  party,  but  he  agrees 
with  Raimond. 

*^  Raimond,  as  above,  8-10.  Gregoire  M^moire  en  faveur  des  gens  de  cou- 
leur  ou  sangmiUs  de  Saint-Domingue  .  .  .  adressd  h  P  AssembUe  Nationale 
(Paris,  1789.)  Observations  d'un  Habitant  des  Colonies  sur  le  Mdmoire  en  fa- 
veur des  gens  de  couleur,  etc,  (Paris  (?)  1789).  R^ponse  aux  Observations  d*  un 
Habitant  des  Colonies^  etc.,  par  M.  Abbe  de  Cournaud. 


1 8  Introduction, 

missed  on  payment  of  an  insignificant  fine.  Edwards,  how- 
ever, admits  "  that  the  manners  of  the  white  inhabitants 
softened,  in  some  measure,  the  severity  of  the  laws.""  It  is 
probable  that  none  of  the  accounts  of  the  relations  between 
the  whites  and  the  people  of  color  give  an  accurate,  unpreju- 
diced statement.  All  the  writers  were  partisans  of  one  side 
or  the  other,  and  the  only  testimony  that  is  entirely  trust- 
worthy, consists  of  the  admissions  unconsciously  made  by 
the  advocates  of  each  side.  Clausson,  a  planter,  says  there 
was  a  deep  rooted  prejudice  against  the  people  of  color  "knd 
that  they  could  not  be  blamed  for  claiming  their  political 
rights,  although  he  disapproved  of  the  method  in  which 
this  had  been  done.  He  illustrates  the  prejudice  in  sayhig: 
"  Considered  as  the  shameful  offspring  of  the  lust  of •' tlieir, 
masters,  ought  they,  in  fact,  to^  participate  in  this  equality 
of  rights  which  the  enslaved  negroes  could  claim  with^a 
juster  title.""  Hilliard  d'  Auberteuil,  writing  twelve  years 
before  the  Revolution,  declares  that  the  number  of  the 
freedmen  is  too  large."  He  also  maintains  that  although 
**  among  all  peoples  who  have  had  slaves,  the  sons  and  grand- 
sons of  the  freedmen  have  been  held  free  by  birth ;  yet  at 
San  Domingo,  policy  and  safety  require  that  we  crush  the 
race  of  the  blacks  by  so  great  a  contempt  that  whoever  de- 
scends from  it,  even  to  the  sixth  generation,  shall  be  covered 
by  an  indelible  stain.""  He  reveals  the  feeling  with  re- 
gard to  the  punishment  of  the  lower  race  for  offenses  toward 
their  rulers  in  saying  that  **  the  superiority  of  the  whites  re- 
quires that  the  mulatto  who  commits  a  fault  toward  them 
shall  be  punished  immediately,  and  there  is  a  kind  of  hu- 
manity in  allowing  that  they  shall  humiliate  him  by  a  chas- 
tisement, prompt  and  proportioned  to  the  insult.""  He 
would  not  allow  them  to  bear  witness  against  the  whites  ex- 
cept in  case  of  necessity,  or  of  a  capital  crime,"  and  would 
have  a  law  passed  preventing  the  blacks  ever  becoming  free. 
He  mentions  a  regulation  which  forbade  the  people  of  color 
taking  the  names  of  the  whites,  and  says  that  a  black  who 
strikes  a  white  ought  to  be  punished  with  death."     Dalmas, 

''*iii.,  35-38.  The  work  of  Edwards  was  fiercely  attacked  by  Venault  de 
Charmilly  in  his  Lettre  d  M.  Bryan  Edwards  ....  en  refutation  de  son 
ouvrage,  etc.  (London,  1797.)  This  "letter  "  Is  some  234  quarto  pages  in 
length  and  takes  up  Edward's  statements  one  by  one.  Edwards  was  a 
planter  in  Jamaica  and  while  in  San  Domingo  in  1791,  after  the  negro  out- 
break, collected  much  material  upon  the  history  of  the  troubles.  Charmilly 
was  a  planter  of  San  Domingo  and  prominent  in  political  affairs. 

^^  Precis  Historique,  ic)-2i.  ^^n.,12,  ^'ii.,  73.  '^Mi.,75.  ^^  n,,  'jt.^^'n., 
81,  74. 


Introduction,  19 

an  extreme  royalist,  writing  after  the  Revolution,  speaks  of 
them  as  a  **  mixed  caste,  contemptible  and  ungrateful."" 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  people  of  color  were  compara- 
tively unmolested  in  the  exercise  of  their  civil  rights,  and 
that  they  had  in  many  cases  amassed  considerable  fortunes  ; 
it  is  said,  that  they  owned  one-third  of  the  landed  property 
and  one-fourth  of  the  personal  property  in  the  island.^" 
They  possessed  large  estates,  travelled  in  Europe  and  fre- 
quently sent  their  sons  there  to  be  educated.  There  were 
among  them  some  very  intelligent  persons,  and  but  a  very 
small  percentage  had  ever  been  slaves.  They  were  faithful, 
generous^  and  fond  of  their  parents  and  children.  It  is 
probable  that  th^  oppression  to  which  they  were  subjected 
had  prevented  the  gain  in  mental  powers  and  general  cul- 
ture which  otherwise  might  have  been  expected,  and  that 
they  possessed  many  of  the  weaknesses  of  the  colored  race. 
The  women  particularly  were  far  from  being  what  they 
ought.  By  a  census  taken  in  1774  it  was  found  that  out  of 
7,000  free  women  of  color  in  the  colony,  5,000  were  living  as 
mistresses  of  white  men,  although  very  few  were  public 
prostitutes.^^  Since,  of  course,  a  large  part  of  the  free  men 
of  color  were  children  of  these  women,  and  consequently 
brought  up  without  that  careful  attention  and  benign  in- 
fluence to  be  found  only  in  home  Hfe  founded  on  marriage, 
it  is  natural  that  the  great  majority  of  this  class  should  not 
have  been  of  a  high  order  of  morality. 

There  was  one  more  class  in  the  community,  that  of  the 
slaves,  who,  as  has  been  said,  outnumbered  the  whites  in 
the  proportion  of  eight  or  nine  to  one.  The  aborigines 
who  had  received  Columbus  and  his  companions  as  divini- 
ties from  another  world  were  early  enslaved  by  the  Span- 
iards. The  Indian,  however,  seems  incapable  of  enduring 
a  life  of  captivity,  and  the  drudgery  in  the  mines  and 
fields  together  with  the  harsh  treatment  of  their  masters, 
is  said  to  have  resulted,  in  the  fifteen  years  after  the  coming 
of  the  Europeans,  in  a  decrease  of  their  numbers  from  one 
million  to  sixty  thousand.^*  However  much  we  may  dis- 
credit the  exactness  of  this  statement,  it  undoubtedly 
points  to  a  horrible  diminution  of  the  population  and  gives 
a  sickening  insight  into  the  sources  of  the  wealth  of  the 
Spanish  Empire  in  the  sixteenth  century.  From  the  neigh- 
boring islands,  thousands  were  enlisted  or  forcibly  carried 


1.,  II. 


31 

^'La  Croix,  i.,  15. 
^3  Placide-Justin,  145. 
24  Charlevoix,  ii.,  54. 


20  Introduction, 

to  their  fate."  Only  among  the  monks  was  the  voice  of 
compassion  raised.  The  name  of  one  of  these  priests,  Las 
Casas,  has  endured  for  his  pure,  unselfish  devotion  to  the 
Indians.  But  it  gives  us  considerable  enlightenment  upon 
the  views  and  feelings  of  that  century  toward  the  Black 
Race  to  know  that  it  was  this  priest,  so  nobly  giving  up  his 
life  for  one  unfortunate  race  of  people,  who  also  suggested 
the  bringing  of  negroes  from  Africa  as  a  means  of  relief  to 
the  Indians.''  The  slave  trade  at  first  was  not  great,  but 
by  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  had  become  general, 
and  froV  that  time  continued  unchecked.  It  is  said  by  one 
author  that  the  annual  importation  of  Negroes  from  ^Africa 
amounted,  during  the  years  preceeding  the  Revolution,  to 
30,000,  and  during  the  eighteenth  century  there  had  been 
brought  900,000  slaves.  Still  in  1789  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
the  climate  was  favorable  to  their  multiplication,  there  were 
in  the  island  only  a  little  more  than  half  that  number." 
Garran  says  that  there  was  not  a  plantation  in  the  island 
where  the  number  of  slaves  could  be  maintained  without 
annual  purchases,  the  annual  death  rate  being  one-ninth.^* 
Of  three  hundred  and  eighty-four  European  ships  engaged 
in  the  commerce  of  the  colony,  fifty  were  in  the  slave  trade. 
**  The  mortality  among  the  slaves  brought  to  the  island  has 
been  one-third,""  says  a  firm  upholder  of  the  island  aris- 
tocracy, and  "  there  perished  every  year  nearly  one-fifteenth 
of  the  entire  number,""  after  they  had  become  accli- 
mated. These  facts  concerning  the  great  death  rate 
are  very  suggestive  with  regard  to  the  treatment  to 
which  they  were  subjected.  Of  the  direct  testimony 
upon  this  point  we  must  be  very  suspicious  for  most  of 
the  works  were  written  after  the  rebellions,  and  after 
the  founding  of  the  Black  Empire,  and  are  greatly  biased. 
As  the  enslaved  negroes  play  a  very  subordinate  part  in  the 
period  of  which  we  are  to  treat,  it  will  not  be  necessary  to 
make  a  detailed  examination  of  their  condition.  Here  again 
we  may,  perhaps,  most  safely  trust  Hilliard  d*  Auberteuil, 
who,  writing  twelve  years  before  the  outbreak  of  the  troubles 
and  desirous  of  introducing  reforms  advantageous  to  the 
planters,  was  not  likely  to  be  biased  in  favor  of  the  aboli- 
tion of  slavery.     Indeed  he  expressly  declares  that  it  must 

2^  Ibid,  ii.,  55. 

3«  Ibid,  ii.,  155,  156. 

^^  Placide-Justin,  147. 

'^Garran,  i.,  24. 

"  Hilliard  d'  Auberteuil,  i.,  67, 

^•Ibid,  i.,  69. 


Introduction,  2i 

be  maintained,  and  argues  for  the  restriction  of  emancipa- 
tion." The  negroes  were  good-natured,  easy  to  manage,  in- 
dustrious when  not  discouraged,  sober  and  patient.  He  be- 
lieves that  their  lot  under  a  good  master  compares  favorably 
with  that  of  the  peasants  in  France."  "  The  negroes  have 
not  that  atrocious  character  which  ignorance  and  fear  have 
attributed  to  them ;  they  have  almost  never  raised  a  mur- 
derous hand  against  their  masters,  and  it  is  from  us  that 
they  have  learned  the  use  of  poison.  Nevertheless  the  ma- 
jority of  the  whites  live  in  continual  fear.  They  nearly  all 
recognize  how  much  reason  their  slaves  have  to  hate  them  and 
give  them  their  deserts  ;  the  kind  master  does  not  experience 
any  such  terrors  and  his  slaves  are  his  friends T^^  In  spite 
of  the  edict  of  1685  "  negroes  perish  daily  in  fetters  ot^ 
under  the  lash ;  they  are  beaten  to  death,  choked,  burned 
without  formality.""  <  **  In  San  Domingo,  whoever  is  white, 
maltreats  with  impunity  the  blacks.  Their  situation  is  such 
that  they  are  slaves  of  their  masters  and  of  the  public. 
Whenever  an  injury  has  been  done  a  slave,  the  judges  are 
accustomed  to  consider  only  the  diminution  of  his  value."" 
After  such  testimony  it  is  unnecessary  to  present  that  of 
those  writers  who  were  advocates  of  emancipation.  In  San 
Domingo  as  in  every  community  where  slavery  exists,  the 
happiness  or  the  misery  of  the  slave  depended  very  largely 
on  the  character  of  the  owner.  It  is  sad  to  know  that  the 
free  people  of  color  did  not  exert  their  influence  for  the 
amelioration  of  the  lot  of  their  less  fortunate  brethren." 

The  government  of  the  colony  vested  ultimately  in  the 
Minister  of  Marine,  representing  the  King.*'  M.  de  Pons, 
one  of  the  Planters,  a  member  of  the  General  Assembly  of 
San  Domingo,  and,  of  course,  strongly  prejudiced  against 
the  old  form  of  administration,  said  :  *'  During  all  time  this 

*^  ii.,  83  and  elsewhere. 

«i.,  132-135. 

*8i.,  137-139. 

**i.,i44. 

«i.,  145. 

♦•Garran,    i.,  24. 

*'  The  statements  of  the  different  writers  upon  the  powers  of  the  differ- 
ent departments  of  the  government,  and  upon  the  eVks  of  the  administra- 
tion are  widely  at  variance.  Most  of  the  French  writers,  imbued  with  ex- 
treme democratic  theories,  could  see  no  more  good  in  the  government  of  the 
colony  than  in  that  of  France.  To  them  it  was  totally  bad.  Bryan  Ed- 
wards writes  with  all  the  British  antipathy  that  was  in  his  day  so  particu- 
larly manifested  against  the  French.  Venault  de  Charmilly  convicts  him 
of  numerous  errors  and  makes  him  doubtful  authority.  Charmilly  is  more 
trustworthy.  He  shows  that  whatever  excesses  might  have  been  expected 
from  the  absolute  power  of  the  government  were  moderated  by  the  wealth 
and  influence  of  the  Planters, 


22  Introduction, 

colony  has  been  regarded  as  the  patrimony  of  the  Minister 
of  Marine,  his  wishes  were  the  only  laws  observed  in  its  tri- 
bunals ;  and  if  any  immediate  orders  of  the  King  or  Council 
of  State  should  arrive  at  San  Domingo,  a  simple  letter  of 
the  Minister  was  sufficient  to  arrest  their  execution."*^  His 
edicts  were  laws,  there  being  no  bodies  which  could  in  any 
considerable  way  restrict  the  absolute  power  of  the  mon- 
archy in  the  colonies."  The  administration  of  affairs  was 
placed  in  the  hands  of  the  Governor  and  an  Intendant, 
both  appointed  by  the  Minister  of  Marine  and  both  invari- 
ably residents  of  France.  In  common  these  officials 
possessed  many  powers  such  as  nomination  to  the  less  im- 
portant offices,  the  principal  appointments  being  in  the 
hands  of  the  Minister,  as  was  also  the  ratification  of  all 
nominations ;  control  of  police,  of  roads  and  of  public  works  ; 
presidency  of  the  judicial  councils  of  which  the  Intendant 
was  actual  president  and  the  Governor  honorary  president. 
Individually  the  Governor  had  the  military  administration 
and  represented  the  royal  power,  while  the  Intendant  was 
more  especially  concerned  with  the  finances  and  with  just- 
ice.^" An  edict  of  the  King's  council  published  in  1789 
shows  that  Edwards  is  wrong  in  attributing  absolute  powers 
to  the  Governors." 

Instead  of  the  Governor's  powers  being  unlimited 
they  were  very  carefully  restricted  and  defined.  In  case 
of  a  disagreement  between  the  Governor  and  the  Inten- 
dant, the  latter  had  an  appeal  to  the  home  govern- 
ment. Just  before  the  troubles  began  in  the  island,  this 
right  of  appeal  had  been  very  successfully  used  by  the  In- 
tendant Marbois  with  regard  to  an  act  of  the  Governor 
which  opened  the  ports  of  the  island  to  the  admission  of 
foreign  corn."  This  dual  administration  is  represented  on 
the  one  hand  as  having  interfered  with  the  proper  carrying 
on  of  the  government,  and  on  the  other  as  having  been  such 
a  balancing  of  powers  as  to  prevent  excess.     It  is  probable 

**  Observations  sur  le  Situation  Politique  de  Saint- Domingue  (Paris, 
1790),  I.  2. 

*'Garran,  i.,  31. 

''''Ibid,  i.,  30,  31. 

''^  Arret  du  conseil  d'  £tat  du  Roi  qui  casse  et  annulle  une  Ordonnance  du 
Gouverneur  gM^ral  de  Saint- Domingue^  du  9  Mai  dernier^  laquelle  accordait 
aux  J^trangers  la  liberty  du  commerce  pour  la  Partie  du  Sud  de  Saint- Domingue 
(Versailles,  1789),  2. 

^2  Dalmas,  i.,  20  also  Arrtt  du  conseil  d*  £tat  du  Roi portant  cassation  d'  une 
Ordonnance  de  M.  le  Marquis  du  Chilleau,  Gouverneur^  Lieutenant  gMiral  de 
Saint- Domingue,  du  sy  Mai  dernier^  concernant  V  introduction  des  farines 
^trang^res,     (Versailles,  1789)  and  the  arrtt  in  note  51. 


Introduction.  23 

that  there  is  truth  in  each  statement,  although  Dalmas,  a 
supporter  of  the  old  regime,  admits  that  this  two-fold  head- 
ship did  result  in  continual  trouble  and  scandal.  The  pow- 
ers of  the  Governors  were  not  fixed  definitely  by  law,  but 
were  described  in  the  commission  given  to  each  appointee, 
and  varied  from  time  to  time.  To  a  governor  possessing  a 
greater  degree  of  the  king's  confidence,  especial  power 
would  be  given.  This  uncertainty  and  change  were  a  cause 
of  discontent.^^  In  each  of  the  three  provinces  there  was  a 
deputy  governor  or  commander  en  second. 

Justice  was  administered  in  the  first  instance  by  local  jus- 
tices called  s^n^chaux  with  an  appeal  to  a  Superior  Council. 
In  earlier  times  there  had  been  but  one  of  these  Superior 
Councils  and  it  sat  at  Port-au-Prince.  In  1701  a  second 
one  was  established  at  Cap  Frangais,  which  continued 
until  1787,  when  it  was  consolidated  with  that  at  Port-au- 
Prince.  Garran  says  that  the  reason  for  this  consolidation 
was  the  opposition  manifested  at  times  by  the  Superior 
Councils  to  the  registration  of  laws."  It  was  thought  that 
a  single  body  would  be  more  easily  controlled. ^^  This 
council  was  composed  of  the  Governor,  Intendant,  Deputy- 
Governors,  twelve  councillors,  chosen  from  the  attorneys  in 
the  island,  and  some  other  officials.^^ 

Throughout  the  seventeenth  century  there  were  no  gen- 
eral taxes,  each  community  providing  for  its  own  necessi- 
ties, but  in  1698  a  tax  was  placed  on  the  exportation  of  in- 
digo. The  taxes  were  gradually  increased  by  the  royal  au- 
thority, but  always  nominally  voted  by  the  local  assemblies 
until  1763,  when  the  royal  government  placed  the  amount 
of  the  taxes  at  4,ocx),ooo  livres — to  be  collected  as  the 
Superior  Councils  might  judge  most  expedient.  Taxes 
were  levied  on  negroes,  on  exportation  and  importation  of 
commodities  and  on  houses,  the  soil  not  being  touched. 
There  were  certain  other  revenues  which  were  turned  into 
the  royal  treasury,  such  as  the  postal  receipts,  fines,  per- 
centages on  judicial  judgments  and  on  sales  in  the  markets, 
and  sums  which  had  to  be  paid  on  the  enfranchisement  of 
slaves." 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  there  were  many 
causes  of  dissatisfaction   in  the  island  and  that  its  people 

^^Hilliard  d'  Auberteuil,  ii.,  116,  117. 

"Edwards,  iii.,  30. 

"  Ibid,  iii.,  30,  and  Hilliard  d' Auberteuil,  ii.,  223  seqq. 

"Garran,  i.,  39-41. 


24  Introduction, 

were  far  from  considering  their  condition  a  happy  one. 
Slavery  was  a  volcano  under  the  feet  of  the  free  people. 
The  possession  of  civil  rights  only  and  the  contempt  with 
which  they  were  regarded  made  the  free  colored  people 
ready  to  welcome  any  movement  which  would  bring  a 
change.  There  was  continual  suspicion  and  even  open  dis- 
cussion between  these  two  classes  of  the  free  people.  The 
planters  further  felt  the  burden  of  the  colonial  system,  by 
which  all  commerce  was  supposed  to  be  for  the  mother 
country,  as  grievously  as  our  ancestors  felt  the  burden  of 
England's  policy.  They  had  the  example  of  the  English 
colonies  in  North  America  as  an  incentive  to  throw  off  the 
yoke  that  was  on  them.  Rich  and  aristocratic  they  naturally 
were  jealous  of  the  officials  sent  to  govern  them  for  a  few 
years  and  to  fill  their  pockets  with  ill-gotten  gains.  Further 
the  Creoles  did  not  consider  themselves  as  Frenchmen  and 
had  not  that  attachment  to  France  that  less  remote  descend- 
ants of  Frenchmen  would  have  felt.  They  pointed  to  their 
original  independence  and  to  the  fact  that,  far  from  having 
been  conquered,  they  had  given  themselves  to  France,  as 
reason  why  they  should  now  enjoy  some  degree  of  self- 
government.'* 

It  is  evident  that  only  a  spark  was  needed  to  put  the 
colony  into  a  blaze.  Liberty  was  the  cry  of  all  classes  of 
the  people,  each  putting  its  own  interpretation  on  the  mean- 
ing of  the  word.  Liberty  from  crushing  slavery  .was  the 
cry  which  Wilberforce  and  Clarkson  had  raised  in  England, 
which  had  found  a  ready  response  in  France  and  which  was 
a  matter  of  life  and  death  to  half  a  million  blacks  in  San 
Domingo.  Liberty  in  its  political  sense  and  equal  rights  in 
everything  was  the  cry  of  the  free  people  of  color.  Liberty 
in  commerce,  freedom  from  the  colonial  policy,  self-govern- 
ment were  the  cries  of  the  other  half  of  the  free  people  —  a 
universal  desire  for  freedom,  but  the  desires  of  the  different 
classes  completely  irreconcilable.  All  were  wishing  for  the 
prevalence  of  the  very  ideas  which  the  Revolution  was  to 
bring,  but  each  selfishly.  To  oppose  the  storm  about  to 
break  out  there  was  no  class  with  even  the  weak  strength  of 
the  French  nobility  —  only  a  few  hated  officials  and  some 
thousands  of  troops,  themselves  all  ready  to  join  the  uni- 
versal cry. 

Nor  was  there  the  moral  strength  which  might  moderate 
the  fury  of  the  forces  at  play  and  manipulate  them  for  the 

"S  Gastine,  Histoire  de  la  Republique  d'  Haiti  ou  Saint- Domingue,  VEsclav- 
age  et  les  Colons^  (Paris,  1819),  78. 


general  good.  The  Planters  were  haughty,  unaccustomed 
to  self-restraint  and  even  cruel.  The  Petits-Blancs  were 
jealous,  mean  and  corrupt.  The  people  of  color  were  men- 
tally and  morally  weak. 

But,  perhaps,  even  more  influential  in  shaping  the  course 
of  events  was  the  complete  lack  of  ability  for  self-govern- 
ment. None  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  island  had  had  any 
experience  in  administration  or  legislation.  Even  more 
significant  was  the  absence  of  any  latent  capacity  for  wise 
political  activity.  To  this  political  sense  the  North-Ameri- 
can colonies  owed  their  success,  and  the  lack  of  it  has  played 
havoc  in  France  for  a  century.  In  San  Domingo  its  entire 
absence,  the  ignorance  of  many  of  the  people,  their  immor- 
ality, their  selfishness,  the  evils  of  long  continued  despotic 
government  and  the  complete  want  of  that  noble,  though  in 
some  respects  mistaken,  enthusiasm  for  liberty,  equality, 
fraternity,  which  permeated  the  people  of  France,  impelled 
many  even  of  the  old  aristocracy  to  resign  their  privileges 
and  produced  a  Fourth  of  August,  were  the  forces  guiding 
the  colonial  revolutionary  movement  into  interesting  but 
not  inspiring  courses. 


CHAPTER  I. 

SAN  DOMINGO  SECURES  REPRESENTATION  IN  THE  NATIONAL 

ASSEMBLY. 

The  striking  ignorance  as  to  what  the  immediate  future 
was  to  bring  forth  that  prevailed  in  France,  when,  on  the 
eighth  day  of  August,  1788,  Louis  XVI.  summoned  the 
States  General,  was  paralleled  in  San  Domingo.  There,  too, 
each  faction  thought  only  of  the  advantages  which  it  ex- 
pected to  gain,  and  failed  to  observe  that  divergence  of  in- 
terest must  result  in  a  clash  that  would  bring  almost  uni- 
versal ruin.  Each  class  in  the  island  was  alert  and  prepared 
to  reap  all  the  selfish  benefit  that  it  could  from  the  pros- 
pective changes.  But  at  first  the  Planters  seemed  to  be 
the  ones  whose  interests  would  especially  be  advanced. 
They  thought  that  by  gaining  a  representation  in  the 
newly-called  States  General  they  would  secure  a  voice  in 
the  conduct  of  legislation,  and  that  the  administration  of  the 
government  would  fall  into  their  hands  rather  than  remain 
in  control  of  officials  from  France.  Hilliard  d*  Auberteuil 
had  written  at  length  to  show  that  the  chief  grievances  felt 
by  the  Planters  were  the  weight  of  the  military  government 
with  its  constant  interference  in  all  affairs,  and  the  lack  of 
legislative  freedom.  Now  that  the  States  General  was  to 
meet  and  the  old  abuses  in  France  were  to  be  ^6rrected,  the 
Planters  hoped  to  remove  their  causes  for  complartnt.  No 
one  seemed  to  think  that  the  Revolution  would  lead  to 
emancipation  of  the  slaves." 

No  sooner  had  the  announcement  of  the  approaching 
meeting  of  the  States  General  been  made  than  those  planters 
of  San  Domingo  who  at  the  time  were  residents  in  Paris, 
began  working  to  secure  a  representation  of  their  interests, 
apparently  under  the  authority  and  at  the  wish  of  some 
planters  in  the  island.  Such  representation  was  a  vital 
question  to  the  colony,  for,  if  it  were  recognized  as  a  part 
of  the  nation  it  might  expect  to  enjoy  benefits  flowing  from 
the  Revolution,  while  if  its  representatives  were  not  given 
seats  in  the  States  General  it  would  remain  under  the  abso- 
lute government  of  the  king  and  his  officers.  Some  ninety 
of  these  colonial  proprietors  in  Paris,  nearly  all  of   noble 

"  La  Croix,     i. ,  10, 


San  Domingo  secures  Representation.  27 

rank,  met  and  appointed  a  commission  of  nine  to  forward 
their  interests.'**  The  most  prominent  of  their  number  and 
the  only  one  who  left  much  evidence  of  ability,  was  Jean 
Louis  Marthe,  Marquis  de  Gouy  d'Arsy.  He  was  their 
spokesman  and  the  writer  of  their  letters  and  memorials. 

There  is  little  doubt  that  this  committee  and  the  San 
Domingans  in  Paris  who  were  in  sympathy  with  it  were 
cordially  supported  from  the  first  by  a  large  number  of  the 
planters  in  the  island.  There  were,  however,  in  Paris  some 
planters  not  in  accord  with  the  objects  of  this  commission. 
They  were  of  such  strength  that  the  commission  felt  obliged 
to  combat  their  arguments,  notably  in  a  paper  of  considerable 
length  published  in  September,  1788."  This  was  the  germ 
of  the  later  strong  faction  of  the  Club  Massiac  and  had  its 
supporters  in  the  colony. 

The  colonial  committee  was  very  active  in  its  agitation  to 
secure  the  admission  of  colonial  delegates  to  the  States 
General.  Great  efforts  were  made  to  convert  la  Luzerne 
to  their  views  and  also  to  gain  over  Du  Chilleau,  the  Gov- 
ernor of  San  Domingo,  who  then  chanced  to  be  in  France. 
There  was  prospect  of  success  so  far  as  the  latter  was  con- 
cerned until  he  had  consulted  with  la  Luzerne.^"  This 
party  claimed  that  the  colony  was  a  part  of  the  nation. 
They  professed  great  loyalty."*  *'  Victims  of  the  climate,  we 
have  braved  death  to  increase  your  possessions,  and  when 
finally  it  was  recognized  that  nature  refused  to  the  French 
the  strength  of  body  to  cultivate  a  soil  burning  under  a  tor- 
rid zone,  we  preserved  ourselves  for  the  direction  of  the 
work  and  sought  in  Africa  an  entire  people  already  acclimat- 
ed ;  we  ordered  them  to  enrich  the  metropolis  and  our 
sovereign,  and  as  a  reward  for  their  work  have  treated  them, 
from  reasons  of  humanity  and  interest,  as  our  children,  in 
despite  of  the  erroneous  assertions  of  innovating  philoso- 
phers." They  emphasized  the  union  of  the  French  nobility 
with  the  people  of  San  Domingo — "your  court  has  become 
Creole  by  alliances." 

The  Council  of  State  refused  to  recognize  these  commis- 
sioners on  account  of  the  irregularity  of  their  powers  and 


'•*  The  minutes  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Commission  are  given  in  a  pamph- 
let entitled  Lettre  du  Comitd  Colonial  de  France,  au  Comity  Colonial  de  Saint- 
Domingue  ....  par  le  Marquis  de  Gouy  d'  Arsy  [Paris  ?  1788  ?]. 

"The  above.     73-87. 

'2  Ibid.     21-29,  34' 

^^a  Lettre  des  Commissaires  de  la  colonic  de  Saint- Domingue  au  Roi  (Paris  ? 
1788).     It  was  sent  4  September  to  la  Luzerne  to  deliver  to  the  King. 


28  San  Domingo  secures  Representation 

even  to  submit  the  question  of  their  representation  to  the 
Assembly  of  Notables  called  in  November,  1788,  to  de- 
liberate on  the  composition  of  the  States  General  and  the 
election  of  its  members."  In  spite  of  this  rebuff  they  did 
themselves  petition  the  Assembly  of  Notables." 

As  soon  as  it  was  known  in  the  island  that  the  States 
General  was  called  for  May,  1789,  the  various  classes  of  the 
whites  were  filled  with  enthusiasm,  each  hoping  to  derive 
some  benefit  from  its  meeting.  Although  the  colonists  had 
not  been  summoned  to  send  representatives  to  the  States 
General,  demands  were  at  once  made  on  the  Governor  and 
Intendant  for  the  convocation  of  assemblies  for  the  election 
of  delegates.  Petitions  with  numerous  signatures  were  sent 
in."  To  all  these  requests  the  administrators  returned  an 
unfavorable  answer  —  the  only  kind  that  was  possible.  It 
was  out  of  the  question  for  them  to  summon  the  colonists 
to  elect  delegates  without  orders  from  the  home  government. 
They  said,  also,  that  they  did  not  know  the  real  wish  of  the 
colony  since  many  of  the  inhabitants  were  opposed  to  the 
incorporation  of  the  colony  in  the  nation,  as  was  shown  by 
petitions  in  opposition  to  representation." 

In  spite  of  the  prohibition  of  the  Governor,  assemblies 
were  formed  for  the  election  of  representatives.  There  was 
much  dispute  as  to  the  extent  to  which  these  assemblies 
really  represented  the  people.  Garran  says  that  they  rep- 
resented the  planters  only,  and  that  the  gatherings  were 
largely  secret."  Edwards  says  that  when  the  Governor  at- 
tempted to  prevent  the  provincial  and  parish  meetings 
which  were  everywhere  summoned,  his  proclamations  were 
treated  with  indignity  and  contempt.'*  It  is  claimed  by 
Charmilly,  however,  that  many  citizens  doubted  the  advis- 
ability of  being  incorporated  in  the  French  nation ;  that 
there  were  few  assemblies  held  ;    that  lists  came  out  from 

•'  Premilre  Denunciation  Solemnelle  d*  un  Ministre  faite  h  VAssembl^e  Na- 
tionale  en  la  personne  du  Comte  de  la  Luzerne  .  .  ,  />ar  le  Comte  de  Gouy  .  .  . 
(Paris,  1790).  There  is  an  appendix  Extrait  des pihes  justijicatives,  'etc.,   127. 

®*  Premier  Recueil  de  Pihes  Intiressantes,  remises  par  les  Commissaires  de  la 
Colonie  de  Saint- Domingue  h  Mm.  les  Notables^  les  6  Novembre^  1788  (Paris  ? 
1788  ?) 

^5  Lettre  bien  importante  de  la  chambre  d' Agriculture  de  Saint- Domingue, 
adress^e  aux  Membres  du  Comity  Colonial ;  siant  h  Paris  (Paris  ?  1788  ?)  and 
Appendix  to  the  Denunciation  cited  above,  23,  26,  27,  35.  The  number  of 
signatures  was  put  at  4,000. 

fi«  See  Lettre  quoted  in  reference  65  :  15.  16  ;  appendix  to  Denunciation  of 
reference  63  :  25,  29  ;  Clausson,  26  ;  Garran,  i.,  45,46. 

«H.,46. 

«8iii.,  39. 


in  the  National  Assembly*  29 

Europe  all  made  out  and  were  signed  in  secret ;  that  many 
signatures  were  false  and  that  many  proprietors  (of  whom 
he  was  one)  protested  against  the  election/^  There  seems 
to  be  no  doubt  that  the  delegates  elected  did  not  represent 
all  the  planters  although  they  were  subsequently  recognized 
by  the  provincial  assemblies  as  representatives  of  the 
colony.  Madiou  says  that  even  as  early  as  this  the  planters 
began  to  talk  of  independence  but  I  find  nothing  in  the 
contemporary  authorities  to  support  this  statement.  It  is 
possible  that  there  may  have  been  vague  talk  of  a  separa- 
tion from  France  especially  among  the  planters  like  Char- 
milly  who  were  opposed  to  the  sending  of  delegates  to  the 
States  General. 

However,  there  were  elected  eighteen  delegates,  being  six 
for  each  province ;  of  these  delegates  a  large  number  were 
colonists  resident  in  France.  From  a  letter  written  in  San 
Domingo,  20  February,  1789,  we  can  learn  all  the  steps  of 
this  election.  The  basis  of  the  proceedings  was  said  to  be 
"  the  imprescriptible  rights,  acquired  by  all  men,  of  occu- 
pying themselves  peaceably  with  their  common  interests." 
Primary  assemblies  were  formed  in  the  parishes  which  chose 
electors  with  full  powers.  The  latter  met  in  the  capitals  of 
the  provinces,  edited  their  cahiers  and  elected  delegates  to 
the  States  General.''°  Of  the  seven  delegates  who,  accord- 
ing to  this  letter,  were  elected  from  the  Province  of  the 
North,"  four  were  already  members  of  the  colonial  com- 
mittee in  France  ;  one  other  was  a  resident  of  Paris  but 
not  a  member  of  the  Committee  ;  and  two  were  at  the  time 
of  the  election  residents  of  the  island.  The  latter  did  not 
reach  Paris  until  July."  Those  in  Paris,  however,  continued 
their  efforts  to  secure  admission  to  the  Tiers  Etat. 

Their  cahiers  show  us  that  the  object  of  the  planters  was 
not  to  spread  the  ideas  which  inspired  the  Revolution  but  to 
secure  the  erection  of  their  caste  into  a  privileged  aristoc- 
racy. They  demanded  that  no  one  should  participate  in  the 
government  except  the  great  proprietors  ;  that  France  should 
leave  to  the  colony  the  right  of  self-government ;  that  the 
administration  should  be  in  the  hands  of  the  planters  ;  that 

'<*  This  letter  was  printed  in  a  pamphlet  entitled  Que  Ceux  qui  ont  une 
Ante  liseni  ceci  (Cape  [San  Domingo]  1789).  See  also  Precis  sur  la  Position 
actuelle  de  la  Deputation  de  Saint-Domingue ,  aux  Etats  G^n^raux  (Paris  ? 
1789  ?). 

'^  The  number  of  delegates  elected  was  usually  stated  to  be  six  from  each 
province.  Probably  an  agreement  was  made  after  the  elections  to  limit  the 
number  to  six  in  each  province  and  thus  some  retired. 

'2  Placide-Justin,  176. 


30  San  Ilomingo  secures  Representation 

they  alone  occupy  the  chief  offices  and  have  the  proposal 
in  the  colonial  assembly  of  laws  which  should  subsequently 
be  ratified  by  a  colonial  committee  in  France ;  that  the 
courts  of  justice  should  be  open  to  them  and  that  a  seat  in 
these  courts  for  a  certain  time  should  be  rewarded  by  a  title 
of  nobility." 

It  was  one  thing  to  elect  delegates  to  the  States  General 
but  entirely  different  to  secure  their  recognition  by  that 
body.  All  through  the  early  months  of  1789  they  were 
presenting  themselves  at  the  electoral  assemblies  in  Paris  in 
order  to  bring  their  cause  before  the  prospective  members 
of  the  great  representative  body.'*  But  their  efforts  do  not 
seem  to  have  resulted  very  successfully.  I  find  only  three 
cahiers  which  mention  their  claims  in  any  way.  The  clergy 
of  Paris  extra  muros^^  the  clergy  of  Paris  intra  muros'^  and 
the  third  estate  in  Paris"  demanded  that  the  representatives 
of  San  Domingo  be  given  seats  and  the  nation  represented 
in  its  integrity.  The  nobility  were  opposed  to  the  admis- 
sion of  the  colonial  delegates  to  their  own  body,  naturally 
not  recognizing  the  island  aristocracy  as  a  real  nobility. 

Not  until  the  eighth  of  June  did  any  degree  of  success 
crown  the  untiring  efforts  of  the  San  Domingans.  The 
minutes  of  the  Commons  relate  that  on  that  day  the  depu- 
ties of  San  Domingo  presented  themselves  and  demanded 
provisional  admission.  They  were  granted  seats  without 
votes  until  their  rights  and  powers  should  be  settled." 
When  the  roll  of  the  Commons  was  called  on  the  twelfth 
and  thirteenth,  the  colonial  deputies  called  attention  to  the 
fact  that  their  names  were  omitted  but  obtained  no  more 
satisfaction  than  had  been  given  them  on  the  eighth,  being 
instructed  to  submit  their  credentials  which  would  be  con- 
sidered at  the  proper  time.'' 

The  twentieth  of  June  was  a  great  day  not  only  for  France 
but  for  the  planters  of  San  Domingo.  The  famous  oath  of 
the  Tennis  Court  had  scarcely  been  taken  when  President 
Bailly  announced  that  the  bureau  of  verification  had  re- 
ported unanimously  for  the  provisional  admission  of  twelve 

'^Garran,  i.,  47,  48.  These  cahiers  were  not  published  until  the  follow- 
ing Octoter  and  then  caused  the  downfall  of  the  committee  which  drew 
them  up. 

'^Garran,  i.,  48. 

"^^  Archives y   v.,  233,  article  18. 

'^  Ibid,  266  art.  3. 

"  Ibid,  282  art.  31  ;  302  art.  7. 

'8Ibid,  viii.,  8i. 

"  Ibid,  99. 


in  the  National  Assembly,  31 

delegates  from  San  Domingo.  The  Assembly  ratified  this 
action  and  the  delegates  took  the  oath/"  It  is  evident  that 
the  colonial  representatives  had  shrewdly  taken  advantage 
of  the  tendencies  of  the  time.  We  can  easily  understand 
how  on  that  solemn  and  important  occasion  the  Tiers  Etat 
allowed  their  feelings  to  get  the  better  of  their  judgments. 
In  a  few  days  their  love  of  liberty  and  desire  for  emancipa- 
tion of  the  enslaved  wherever  found  made  them  examine 
more  carefully  the  claims  of  the  delegates  of  San  Domingo 
who  had  been  admitted  provisionally  to  the  number  of 
twelve.  On  the  twenty-seventh  the  chairman  of  the  bureau 
of  verification  reported  that  careful  examination  of  the 
questions  relating  to  the  admission  of  the  delegates  from 
San  Domingo  had  been  made.  There  were  three  points  to 
settle,  namely,  had  the  colony  the  right  to  any  representa- 
tion ;  was  the  election  of  the  delegates  legal ;  and  what 
number  should  be  admitted.  During  this  day's  debate  the 
tendency  was  strongly  toward  an  increase  of  the  delegation 
to  twenty.  On  the  third  of  July  the  debate  was  resumed, 
the  first  speeches  being  of  the  same  tenor  as  those  of  the 
week  before.  But  Mirabeau  arose  and  in  his  eloquent  and 
stirring  manner  argued  that  such  action  was  utterly  incon- 
sistent with  the  principles  of  the  Revolution.  He  pointed 
out  that  there  was  no  law  or  tradition  which  would  give  the 
island  a  representation  ;  that  those  presenting  themselves  as 
delegates  did  not  represent  the  island  since  the  free  people 
of  color  had  no  share  in  th)^  election  ;  and  that  the  number 
twenty  was  too  large  since  the  slaves  were  regarded  simply 
as  property.  He  thought  the  colony  should  be  allowed  a 
representation  in  the  National  Assembly  but  this  would  not 
be  on  account  of  an  old  right  but  by  act  of  legislation. 
Four  delegates  were,  in  his  opinion,  all  the  colony'^was  justly 
entitled  to. 

Gouy  d'  Arsy  made  an  able  reply  pointing  out  that  the  peo- 
ple of  France  knew  the  colonies  only  very  imperfectly  ;  and 
that  the  colored  people  were  not  summoned  because  laws 
made  in  France  excluded  them  from  the  franchise.  But 
Mirabeau  was  too  influential  and  the  report  was  sent  back 
to  the  committee  which  on  the  next  day  recommended  that 
the  number  of  delegates  be  two  for  each  province  or  six  in 
all.  This  report  was  adopted  by  a  large  majority,  and  on 
the  seventh  the  San  Domingans  announced  that  Cocherel 
and  Gouy  d'  Arsy  would  represent  the  province   of    the 

8»  Ibid,  138. 


32  San  Domingo  secures  Representation 

West ;  Thebaudi^re  and  T  Archeveque  Thibaut,  that  of  the 
North  ;  and  P^rrigny  and  Gerard  that  of  the  South/' 

But,  as  Mirabeau  said,  these  men  did  not  really  represent 
the  colony.  Not  only  were  the  slaves,  making  up  nine-tenths 
of  the  population,  and  the  free  people  of  color  who  were 
one  half  of  the  remainder,  unrepresented  but  many  of  the 
whites  were  greatly  dissatisfied.  There  can  be  no  doubt, 
however,  that  these  delegates  were  continually  recognized  as 
such  by  the  colonial  assemblies  however  much  discontent 
may  have  been  felt.^''  The  chief  opposition  proceeded  at 
first  from  another  source,  namely,  some  of  the  large  body  of 
colonial  proprietors  who  were  permanent  residents  in  Paris. 

A  detailed  account  of  the  manner  in  wjiich  this  opposi- 
tion became  organized  would  involve  us  in  a  discussion  of 
the  great  anti-slavery  agitation  then  going  on  in  England 
and  France.  In  France  Montesquieu,  Raynal  and  Neckar 
had  exposed  the  evils  of  slavery,  and  in  that  country  the 
movement  assumed  in  1789  large  proportions,  resulting  in 
the  foundation  of  the  society  ''Amis  des  Noirs'*  whose  ob- 
ject was  to  secure  abolition.  Among  its  members  were 
Mirabeau,  Rochefoucauld,  Condorcet,  Petion,  Brissot,  La- 
fayette, Robespierre  and  Gr^goire.  Clarkson  gives  an  in- 
teresting account  of  his  visit  to  Paris  and  his  intercourse 
with  these  men."'  The  circulation  of  translations  of  Clark- 
son's  writings  and  his  plans  of  slave-ships  aroused  opposi- 
tion to  the  society  in  Paris  and  the  commercial  towns. 
Clarkson  was  told  that  abolition  of  the  slave-trade  must  wait 
for  the  Revolution,  since  agitation  for  enfranchisement  of 
the  slaves  would  turn  some  against  the  greater  movement. 
Mirabeau  and  Lafayette  were  for  immediate  consideration 
of  the  question,  but  after  canvassing  the  Assembly  it  was 
found  that  only  one-fourth  of  the  members  would  support 
the  cause,  so  it  was  concluded  that  it  would  be  inexpedient 
formally  to  introduce  the  matter  at  that  time. 

In  the  face  of  such  danger  for  their  cause  many  of  the 
supporters  of  slavery  were  strongly  opposed  to  the  Revolu- 
tion since  they  saw  its  progress  promised  to  result  in  enfran- 
chisement. Partly,  then,  from  fear  and  partly  from  jealousy 
they  opposed  the  colonial  committee   and  the  deputation 

"  Ibid,  164  sqq.,  i86  sq,  189  sq,  205.  The  eighteen  delegates  voted  to  re- 
main united,  and  agreed  that  the  votes  of  the  six  should  be  governed  by  the 
decision  of  the  eighteen,     Garran,  i.,  50. 

^^Garran,  i.,  51,  52.     Archives,  viii.,  190. 

83  History  of  the  Rise,  Progress  and  Accomplishment  of  the  Abolition  of  the 
African  Slave  Trade  by  the  British  Parliament.     Chap.  XXV, 


in  the  National  Assembly,  33 

of  planters  admitted  to  the  Assembly.  They  were,  in  many 
cases,  privileged  persons  and  members  of  the  nobility  so 
that  the  adherence  of  the  delegates  to  the  Tiers  Etat  in  the 
oath  of  the  Tennis  Court  increased  their  hostility  to  them. 
This  pro-slavery  party  was  in  sympathy  with  those  planters 
in  the  island  who  like  Charmilly  opposed  the  sending  of 
representatives  to  the  States  General.  The  deputies,  on 
the  other  hand,  wished  that  there  be  decreed  by  the  As- 
sembly for  the  colony  a  constitution  by  which  local  affairs 
should  be  in  the  control  of  colonial  assemblies,  while  laws 
on  commerce  and  external  relations  should  be  concerted 
with  France.  The  other  party  saw  safety  from  the  radical 
ideas  of  the  time  only  in  absolute  independence  of  the 
National  Assembly.  Only  the  king  had  rights  of  govern- 
ment over  the  colonies,  for  they  were  not  a  part  of  the  na- 
tion. The  Minister  of  Marine  and  the  Court  supported  this 
view.^*  The  headquarters  of  this  party  were  at  the  Hotel 
Massiac.  Their  Club  Massiac  was  at  first  known  as  La 
Society  des  Colons  Franqais  Assemblies  h  Paris,  Not  until 
the  events  of  July  and  August  seemed  to  threaten  imminent 
danger  to  slavery  did  the  two  factions  unite. ^^ 

^  Garran,  i.,  53.  .' ' 

^^Garran,  i.,  54, 55.     Clausson,  27.  *  ^ 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  PEOPLE  OF  COLOR  BEGIN  AGITATION. 

In  Paris  the  Revolution  progressed  rapidly.  The  Fall  of 
the  Bastile,  the  Fourth  of  August  and  the  Declaration  of 
Rights  of  the  Twentieth  of  August  marked  its  course.  This 
declaration  in  saying  that  men  are  born  and  live  free  and 
equal  in  rights  and  that  these  rights  are  liberty,  property, 
personal  safety  and  resistance  to  oppression  revealed  the 
great  changes  that  were  being  introduced.  The  slave  own- 
ers were  naturally  disturbed  by  so  sweeping  a  statement,  and 
this  famous  declaration  caused  great  disturbance  in  the 
colony.^'  Mirabeau's  paper,  the  Courrier  de  Provence,  com- 
mented upon  it  as  follows :  **  We  did  not  think  that  the 
moment  was  so  near  when  the  great  cause  of  the  liberty  of 
the  negroes  wrapped  up  in  that  of  general  liberty  of  the 
human    race   would  be   solemnly  established,  avowed  and 

sanctioned  by  the  National  Assembly After  having 

grandly  propounded  this  principle,  the  National  Assembly 
will  not  shun  the  most  just  and  most  legitimate  of  conse- 
quences ....  which  will  say  to  the  negroes,  which  will  say 
to  the  planters,  which  will  teach  all  Europe  that  there  is  not, 
there  cannot  be  more  in  France  or  in  any  country  under  the 
laws  of  France  other  than  free  men.""  Owing  to  the  re- 
newed efforts  of  Clarkson  and  his  friends  the  cause  of  aboli- 
tion was  making  rapid  progress  out  of  the  Assembly  as  well 
as  in  it. 

It  was  evident  that  those  interested  in  the  preservation  of 
slavery  must  unite  and,  if  possible,  remove  colonial  affairs 
from  the  control  of  the  National  Assembly  to  that  of  some 
local  body  in  which  the  slave  interests  would  be  safe.^^ 

Before  this  there  had  been  some  talk  of  a  colonial  assem- 
bly. On  the  twenty-ninth  of  July  the  deputies  from  San 
Domingo  had  declared  that  the  colony  wished  to  derive  the 
power  to  organize  such  a  body  only  from  the  National  As- 
sembly, and  requested  the  king  to  take  no  steps  in  this  mat- 

®^  Dumourrier,  Sur  les  Troubles  des  Colonies  et  V  unique  Moyen  d*  as- 
surer la  Tranquillity,  la  Prosperity  et  la  Fidelity  des  ces  Dependences  de  /'  Em- 
pire (Paris,  1791),  10.     Edwards,  iii.,  43. 

^'J  Volume  ii.,  No.  30. 

88Clausson,  27;  Garran,  i.,  56. 


The  People  of  Color  Begin  Agitation.  35 

ter  without  the  authority  of  the  latter  body.  To  these  re- 
quests the  king  assented  on  August  eleventh.  On  the  other 
hand  the  Club  Massiac  had  asked  the  king  to  convoke  a 
colonial  assembly  without  the  recognition  of  any  power  in 
the  National  Assembly  over  the  dependencies.  On  August 
twenty-ninth  they  petitioned  the  king  to  convoke  the  colo- 
nies to  form  provincial  electoral  assemblies  which  should 
choose  delegates  to  a  central  assembly. 

The  two  factions  now  came  together  and  after  consulta- 
tion with  the  Minister  of  Marine  a  measure  was  drawn  up, 
made  a  law  by  the  Council  and  dispatched  to  the  island. 
The  colonial  assembly  was  to  consist  of  seventy-two  mem- 
bers chosen  by  the  proprietary  planters  owning  twenty 
slaves  or  an  estate  worth  a  hundred  thousand  livres.  Voting 
by  proxy  was  allowed  so  that  the  planters  in  Paris  could  exert 
considerable  influence.  This  assembly  was  not  invested  with 
final  authority  but  was  to  advise  with  the  king.  The  recon- 
ciliation between  the  Club  Massiac  and  the  deputies  does  not 
seem  to  have  been  thorough,  for  the  latter  opposed  this 
measure  and  proposed  another  plan  no  more  democratic  in 
the  basis  of  representation,  but  in  other  respects  more  in  ac- 
cordance with  their  wishes  since  it  was  to  be  summoned  by 
provincial  committees  and  not  by  the  governor.^"  In  all 
these  measures  there  had  been  no  recognition  of  the  power 
of  the  National  Assembly  and  it  was  not  until  October 
twenty-seventh  that  the  government  called  its  attention  to 
colonial  affairs. 

There  has  been  more  or  less  obscurity  and  contradiction 
in  the  different  accounts  given  of  the  manner  in  which  the 
mulattoes  endeavored  to  secure  recognition  and  equality  ol 
rights  with  the  white  citizens  of  the  island.  The  evidence 
seems  very  contradictory  upon  some  points  but  the  new  ma- 
terials in  the  Archives  Par lement aires  enable  us  to  get  a  re- 
liable and  tolerably  complete  account  of  the  proceedings  of 
the  people  of  color. 

On  the  twenty-second  of  October,  1789  ''a  deputation  of 
citizens,  people  of  color,  proprietors  in  the  French  colo- 
nies "^°  appeared  at  the  bar  of  the  National  Assembly  and 
demanded  that  they  be  allowed  to  enjoy  all  the  privileges 
of  citizenship,  not  as  a  favor,  but  as  a  natural  right.  M.  de 
Joly  acted  as  their  spokesman  and  made  an  eloquent  plea 
for  his  fellows.  In  behalf  of  the  people  of  color  he  pre- 
sented the  state  six  millions  of  francs,  and  declared  they 

^^  Garran,  i.,  56-60. 
^'^  Archives,  ix.,  476. 


3^  The  People  of  Color  Begin  Agitation. 

were  ready  to  mortgage  their  property  to  one-fifth  of  its 
value  in  order  to  pay  the  debts  of  the  state.  This  address 
is  signed  by  ten  persons  including  Raimond  and  Og^.  The 
President  responded  that  "  no  part  of  the  nation  would  ask 
its  rights  from  the  Assembly  in  vain."  The  deputation  was 
granted  sittings  as  spectators  and  their  petition  laid  on  the 
table." 

Who  were  these  delegates  and  how  were  they  chosen  ? 
Madiou  says  that  after  the  news  of  the  admission  of  the  six 
delegates  had  reached  the  island  "  the  people  of  color  .  .  . 
chose  among  themselves  deputies  who  repaired  to  France 
and  presented  themselves  to  the  Constituant.""  La  Croix 
says ;  "  Some  men  of  color  were  .  .  .  authorized  to  pass  to 
the  continent  in  order  to  plead  their  cause.""  "  There  ar- 
rived in  Paris  men  of  color  sent  into  France  to  defend  their 
rights  and  interests  "  is  the  statement  of  Placide-Justin." 
Clarkson  gives  a  lengthy  and  interesting  account  of  a  dinner 
at  Lafayette's  where  he  met  these  men  who,  he  says,  had  ar- 
rived only  the  preceding  day  from  San  Domingo.  ''  Believ- 
ing that  the  mother  country  was  going  to  make  a  change  in 
its  political  constitution,  they  had  called  a  meeting  on  the 
island  and  this  meeting  had  deputed  them  to  repair  to 
France."  They  had  put  on  the  dress  of  the  National  Guard 
and  had  induced  Lafayette  to  accept  an  appointment  as 
commander-in-chief  over  their  fellow-citizens.*" 

It  might  seem  that  this  was  fairly  conclusive  evidence  of 
their  having  been  duly  elected  in  the  island.  But  Madiou 
and  Placide-Justin  were  not  contemporary  writers  and  La 
Croix  knew  personally  only  of  the  later  part  of  the  Revolu- 
tion in  the  island.  Clarkson's  report  is  on  the  face  of  it 
open  to  suspicion  as  regards  some  details.  It  is  improbable 
that,  after  a  long  voyage  from  San  Domingo,  the  delegates 
should  in  twenty-four  hours  have  put  on  the  dress  of  the 
National  Guard,  been  invited  to  dinner  by  Lafayette  and  in- 
duced him  to  accept  the  honor  of  commander-in-chief  over 
them.  Clarkson  was  especially  interested  in  learning  their 
attitude  toward  the  slave  trade  and  probably  paid  little  at- 
tention to  statements  concerning  the  manner  in  which  the 
delegates  were  chosen.  It  is  probable  that  some  of  them 
had  very  recently  come  from  the  island  unofificially.  Clark- 
son might  easily  confuse  statements  made  in  a  foreign  lan- 

«i  Ibid,  476-478. 

»M..  15. 
9*  p.  178. 
•5  His  History,  etc.  387,  388  of  the  edition  (London,  1839). 


The  People  of  Color  Begin  Agitation,  37 

guage  and  extend  to  all  statements  which  applied  only  to 
individuals.  The  testimony  to  their  having  been  elected  in 
the  island  is  then  untrustworthy. 

On  the  other  hand  the  evidence  that  they  were  chosen 
from  and  by  the  people  of  color  residing  in  Paris  is  conclu- 
sive. Their  original  address  already  mentioned  evades  any 
statement  upon  this  point."  Og6  and  Raimond,  at  least, 
were  in  Paris  during  all  this  period  and  could  not  have  come 
there  as  representatives  from  the  colony.  A  large  number 
of  colored  colonists  had  resided  in  Paris  for  years,  among 
whom  Raimond  had  been  very  prominent  in  his  efforts  in 
behalf  of  his  race,  both  free  and  enslaved."  Og^  had  come 
to  Paris  that  year,  probably  in  the  middle  of  the  summer.*** 
Although  the  petition  of  the  people  of  color  was  sent  to  the 
committee  of  verification  and  was  not  reported  back  by 
them  we  have  in  the  Archives  several  papers  bearing  upon 
this  point,  one  of  them  being  a  letter  addressed  by  the  citi- 
zens of  color  who  had  appeared  before  the  Assembly  to  the 
above  named  committee.  The  white  colonists  had  made 
objection  to  the  admission  of  these  delegates  on  various 
grounds,  and  this  letter  attempts  to  answer  the  objections. 
After  showing  how  circumstances  and  the  prohibitions  of 
the  whites  prevented  more  regular  measures,  they  say: 
"  From  the  lack  of  these  primary  and  local  assemblies,  from 
the  lack  of  a  colonial  meeting  which  it  was  not  possible  for 
them  to  summon,  the  citizens  of  color  newly  arrived  and 
actually  resident  in  France  assembled  to  consider  their 
interests ;  .  .  .  they  elected  deputies  and  these  presented 
themselves  in  the  National  Assembly.'"'  The  letter  says 
that  eighty  colonists  were  present  when  these  proceedings 
were  taken.  It  is  signed  by  six  persons,  all  of  whom  were 
signers  of  the  original  address  presented  on  the  twenty- 
second  of  October."" 

To  anticipate  the  course  of  events  it  may  be  said  that  the 
delegates  were  never  admitted  to  the  Assembly  for  several 
obvious  reasons.  Such  admission  would  have  been  class 
legislation,  would  have  implied  that  the  delegates  already 

'^^  Archives,  ix.,  477. 

^^  Garran,  i. ,  121. 

*8  Ibid,  ii.,  43  :  Madiou,  i.,  53. 

'*  Archives^  x.,  331,  332. 

'^'^  Extrait  du  Proch-  Verbal  de  V  Assemble  des  Citoyens  Libres  et  Proprie- 
taires  de  Couleur  ....  (Paris,  1789).  This  gives  an  account  of  an  attempt 
made  by  the  colored  people  to  arrive  at  some  understanding  with  the  plant- 
ers of  the  Club  Massiac.  Also  Raimond,  Veritable  Origin  des  Troubles  de 
S.  Domingue  et  les  differentes  causes  qui  les  ont produit  (Paris,  1792),'*^  15-18. 


38  The  People  of  Color  Begin  Agitation, 

seated  were  not  real  representatives,  and  would  have  aroused 
the  opposition  of  the  commercial  classes  to  the  whole  course 
of  the  Revolution.'"  The  committee  of  verification  to  which 
the  letter  was  referred  drew  up  a  report  favoring  the  admis- 
sion of  two  deputies  to  represent  the  people  of  color ;  but 
their  spokesman  on  attempting  to  present  it  to  the  Assem- 
bly was  several  times  met  by  such  an  uproar  that  he  was 
obliged  to  give  up  the  attempt."" 

The  representation  of  the  colony  in  the  National  Assem- 
bly was  then  practically  settled  by  the  first  of  December, 
1789,  at  six  delegates  who  were  really  elected  by  a  small 
proportion  of  the  white  inhabitants  of  the  island.  The  ex- 
treme views  with  regard  to  equality  and  universal  suffrage 
did  not  prevail.  The  colony  was  still  regarded  as  a  depend- 
ency entitled  to  a  certain  degree  of  self-government  not  to 
be  assumed  as  a  matter  of  course,  but  to  be  granted  by  the 
Assembly. 

^°^  For  argument  against  demands  of  the  mulattoes  see  Archives ^  x.,  335- 
335.  On  329  is  an  interesting  letter  purporting  to  be  from  the  free  negroes 
claiming  equal  privileges  with  the  mulattoes.  "  The  negro  is  the  issue  of  a 
pure  blood  ;  the  mulatto  on  the  contrary  is  the  issue  of  a  mixed  blood  ;  he 
is  a  compound  of  black  and  white,  a  sort  of  adulteration.  Accordingly  it 
is  as  evident  that  the  negro  is  much  above  the  mulatto  as  it  is  evident  that 
the  pure  gold  is  above  mixed  gold." 

^^  Raimond,  Veritable  Origin,  19. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  REVOLUTION  IN  THE  COLONY. 

The  severity  of  the  winter  of  1788-9  in  France,  and  the 
terrible  evils  that  resulted  from  it,  have  been  graphically  set 
forth  by  two  of  the  brilliant  historians  of  our  time.""  The 
almost  complete  destruction  of  the  harvest  in  the  mother 
country  threatened  the  island  with  famine  unless  corn  could 
be  obtained  elsewhere.  There  was  too  little  at  home,  and 
the  Parliament  of  Bordeaux  at  least  had  forbidden  the  ex- 
port of  grain  to  the  colonies.'"*  To  avert  famine  it  seemed 
best  to  the  Governor,  Du  Chilleau,  to  throw  open  the  ports  to 
the  importation  of  food  stuffs."'  According  to  the  existing 
laws  only  lumber,  live  cattle  and  salted  beef  could  be  im- 
ported, and  these  only  in  three  ports  of  entry. 

But  the  planters,  always  hostile  to  the  existing  trade  regu- 
lations, made  this  scarcity  of  bread  an  excuse  for  an  attempt 
to  secure  greater  general  freedom  of  trade.  Relief  from  the 
threatening  famine  was  secured  by  an  ordonnance  issued  by 
Du  Chilleau,  31  March,  and  duly  registered  i  April,  by  the 
Superior  Council,  granting  permission  to  import  bread  and 
foreign  grains.""  Du  Chilleau  had  succeeded  la  Luzerne  as 
Governor  when  the  latter  had  been  called  to  France  to  be- 
come Minister  of  Marine.  He  had  been  a  military  officer 
of  some  renown  in  the  colonies  and  was  much  more  in  sym- 
pathy with  the  colonists  than  with  the  interests  of  French 
commerce.  He  lost  the  good  will  of  the  ministry  but  car- 
ried back  to  France  the  regrets  of  the  planters."' 

lo^Taine,  The  French  RevoluHon  (N.  Y.,  1878),  i.,  1-5.  Lecky.  History 
of  Englandin  the  Eighteenth  Century  (i^.  Y.,  1878-87).  v.,  426,  427. 

J°*Clausson,  31. 

"'  There  was  much  discussion  as  to  the  necessity  of  this  measure.  It 
would  seem  to  have  been  imperative.  See  e.  g.,  R^plique  des  deputh  des 
manufactut ts  et  du  commerce  de  France  4  Mm,  les  deputh  de  S.  Domingue^ 
concernant  V  approvissionnement  de  cette  colonic  (Versailles,  1789  ?)  ;  Dernilre 
R^ponse  de  M.  de  Cocherel  d^putS  de  S.  Domingue  h  Messieurs  les  d^put/s  du 
Commerce  (Versailles  ?) ;  Prdcis  remis  par  M.  le  Marguis  de  Gouy  d'  Arsy 
aux  Commissaires  auxquels  V  Assemble  Nationale  a  renvoyd  V  examen  .... 
(Versailles,  1789)  ;  and  Appendix  to  Denunciation  of  la  Luzerne,  87^90. 

^^^  Arrit  du  Conseil  d' Etat  du  Roi  Portant  cassation  d' une  Ordonnance  de 
M.  le  Marquis  du  Chilleau^  Gouverneur,  Lieutenant-g^n&al  de  Saint-Domingue^ 
du  2^  Mai  dernier^  concernant  V  introduction  des  farines  dtrangkres  2j  July, 
lySg,  (Paris,  1789.) 

lO'Clausson,  31,  32  ;   Garran,  i..  43  ;   Dalmas  i.,  20,  21. 


40         The  Beginning  of  the  Revolution  in  the  Colony, 

Barb^-Marbois  had  been  Intendant  since  1785,  so  that  he 
had  worked  with  la  Luzerne  when  the  latter  was  Governor. 
Before  this  he  had  been  Consul-General  to  the  United  States 
and  had  married  a  daughter  of  Governor  Moore  of  Penn- 
sylvania. During  the  latter  part  of  his  life  he  played  quite 
an  important  part  in  the  political  affairs  of  France.  His 
administration  of  the  finances  was  very  successful  not  only 
in  the  introduction  of  system  but  in  securing  a  surplus  of 
receipts  over  expenditures."*  By  his  strict  execution  of  the 
colonial  policy  he  gained  the  enmity  of  many.'"*  La  Lu- 
zerne's administration  is  said  to  have  been  weak  and  in- 
active."" He  certainly  gained  while  Minister  of  Marine  the 
intense  dislike  of  the  colonists,  who  made  the  most  bitter 
accusations  against  him. 

On  the  ninth  of  May  DuChilleau,  having  granted  per- 
mission to  foreign  vessels  to  import  bread  and  grain  tempo- 
rarily, went  a  step  farther  toward  satisfying  the  wishes  of 
the  planters,  by  issuing  an  order  granting  permission  to 
foreign  ships  to  introduce  into  three  ports  of  the  southern 
province  for  the  space  of  five  years,  slaves,  grain  and  other 
articles  of  general  value  to  this  part  of  the  island,  to  be  paid 
for  in  sugar  and  other  commodities  produced  in  the  island. 
In  spite  of  Marbois*  remonstrance'"  this  Ordonnance  was 
put  in  force.  According  to  the  laws  governing  the  relations 
of  the  governor  and  intendant  his  remonstrance  should 
have  vetoed  it."'  On  27  May  appeared  another  Ordonnance 
which  really  opened  temporarily  all  the  ports  of  the  island 
to  the  importation  of  bread  and  foreign  grains,  and  allowed 
free  exportation  of  colonial  products."'  There  was  much 
discussion  at  the  time  in  regard  to  the  danger  of  famine"* 
but  Du  Chilleau    had   certainly   transcended   his    powers. 

*®*  Barbe-Marbois  £tat des  finances  de  Saint-Domingue  contenant  le  resumi 
des  recettes  et  d^penses  de  toutes  les  caissespubliques^  depuis  le  lo  Nov,  lyS^, 
jusqu'au  ler  Jan.  iy88  (Port-au-Prince,  1788).  Also  the  same  for  the  year 
1788  (Port-au- Prince,  1789).  Also  M^moire  laissd  par  M.  Barbi  de  Marbois, 
Intendant  d  Saint-Domingue  (Bordeaux,  1789?).  Other  copies  were  printed 
at  Port-au-Prince  and  at  Paris. 

^"'Dalmas.  i.,  25,  26  ;  Garran,  i.,  42. 

"°  Dalmas,  i.,  25. 

"'  Remonstrances  de  M.  de  Marbois,  Intendant  de  Saint-Domingue  contre  P 
arrit  d'  enregistrement  de  V  acte  intituU  j  "  Ordonnance  de  M.  le  Gouvemeur 
GMiral  concemant  la  liberti  du  commerce  pour  la  partie  du  sud  de  Saint-Do- 
mingue."    (?   1789  ?) 

^^^  Arrit  du  Conseil  d'  £tat  du  Roi,  qui  casse  et  annule  une  Ordonnance  du  . 
Gouvemeur-giniral  de  Saint-Domingue  du  g  Mai  dernier  .    .    .    (Paris,  1789). 

"^  See  Reference  106. 

"*See  e.  g.,  Demihre  R^ponse  de  M.  de  Cockerel,  etc.  (reference  105)  and 
Archives,  viii.,  528,  553  ;  x.,  17. 


The  Beginning  of  the  Revolution  in  the  Colony,        41 

Marbois  was  supported  by  the  Minister  of  Marine,  the  gov- 
ernor's acts  were  annulled"^  and  Du  Chilleau  soon  replaced 
by  Count  de  Peinier/'*  So  the  separation  between  the  of- 
ficials and  the  planters  was  increased  by  the  recall  of  the 
Governor  who  had  shown  sympathy  for  the  cause  of  the 
latter.  The  successor  of  Du  Chilleau,  Peinier,  was  a  mem- 
ber of  an  old  French  family,  an  officer  of  some  rank  and 
distinction  in  the  navy  and  a  firm  supporter  of  the  monarchy. 
He  reached  the  colony  in  September  having  received  the 
decoration  of  the  grand  cross  of  the  order  of  St.  Louis 
before  leaving  France."^ 

Already  the  lines  were  sharply  drawn  between  the  parties 
in  the  colony.  The  Petits-Blancs  were  the  real  revolutionary 
party,  desiring  an  overthrow  of  all  privileged  classes,  and 
closely  in  sympathy  with  the  radical  wing  in  the  National 
Assembly.  The  planters  desired  no  social  change  and  sup- 
ported the  existing  order  of  things  with  one  exception. 
They  wished  that  the  island  should  have  self-government. 
The  official  class  and  those  supporting  it  were  strongly  at- 
tached to  the  cause  of  the  old  regime  and  opposed  to  any 
measures  that  could  bring  even  a  degree  of  home-rule  for 
the  colony. 

Either  because  it  was  a  natural  method  of  procedure  or 
because  some  knowledge  of  the  American  institution  had 
reached  them,  the  colonial  proprietors  had  organized  Com- 
mittees of  Correspondence  which  kept  up  communication 
with  each  other  and  with  their  sympathizers  in  Paris.  But 
these  committees  represented  only  a  part  of  the  planters. 
The  Governor  had  made  an  attempt  to  prevent  the  extension 
of  this  secret  organization  by  an  order  prohibiting  more  than 
five  persons  assembling  at  a  time.  Such  a  prohibition  was 
of  course  completely  useless.  These  committees  had  se- 
cured the  election  of  the  delegates  accredited  to  the  Na- 
tional Assembly.  The  people  of  color  had  begun  secret 
correspondence  among  themselves  and  with  their  friends  in 
Paris. "^  As  yet  there  were  no  excesses  in  the  island  and 
the  old  order  of  things  was  outwardly  unshaken,  as  was  the 
case  in  France.  But  the  fall  of  the  Bastile  revealed  in  colony 
as  well  as  mother  country  the  weakness  of  the  old  regime. 

As  soon  as  the  news  of  this  event  reached  the  colony, 
there  were  the  same  signs  of  the  presence  of  the  revolution- 
ary spirit    that   had    been  seen  in    the    metropolis.     The 

^^5  See  Arrits  cited  in  references  io6  and  112. 

^^^  Appendix  to  Denunciation  of  la  Luzerne,  sq.  73-84. 

"''  Garran,  i.,  43.     "^  Madiou,  i.,  34. 


42         The  Beginning  of  the  Revolution  in  the  Colony. 

tri-color  cocade  was  everywhere  worn,  even  the  officials 
being  compelled  to  carry  it ;  some  who  expressed  opposition 
to  the  new  ideas  lost  their  lives;  the  militia  was  remodelled 
in  imitation  of  the  National  Guard.  With  feverish  haste 
the  people  enrolled  themselves  in  the  companies,  influenced 
greatly  by  their  fondness  for  military  display,  decorations 
and  titles."®  The  abolition  of  feudal  privileges  on  the  fourth 
of  August  was  celebrated  in  the  city  of  St.  Marc  by  a  Te 
Deum.     This  fete  resulted  in  considerable  lawlessness."" 

It  was  the  Declaration  of  Rights  of  the  twentieth  of  Au- 
gust that  first  awakened  people  to  a  consciousness  of  the 
fact  that  diversity  of  interests  might  necessitate  different 
methods  of  procedure  in  the  metropolis  and  colony.  They 
saw  that  slavery  was  threatened.  The  anti-slavery  agitation, 
too,  was  at  its  height  in  Paris,  where  Mirabeau  and  Gr^goire 
were  exerting  all  their  efforts  for  immediate  emancipation. 
"  We  are  in  the  greatest  fear  in  this  country,"  writes  a  colo- 
nist, "  concerning  the  negroes.  Is  it  possible  that  the  na- 
tion can  demand  their  liberty?  It  desires  then  to  renounce 
the  colonies."*"  Both  this  letter  and  an  earlier  one"'  threaten 
vengeance  upon  those  who  are  reported  to  be  on  their  way  to 
the  island  to  stir  up  revolt.  Charmilly  says,  "  the  twentieth 
of  Augustwas  the  day  when  the  destruction  of  San  Domingo 
and  of  the  other  colonies  was  pronounced,  and  when  three 
hundred  thousand  men  of  all  colors  were  condemned  to 
death."""  Edwards'"  and  Rainsford"^  agree  with  this  view."" 
Dumourier  insists  that  all  other  causes  assigned  for  the  dis- 
asters that  came  to  the  island  were  of  no  consequence  and 
that  the  anti-slavery  agitator,  hasty  and  imprudent,  was  the 
sole  cause  of  trouble.  This  movement  alarmed  not  only 
the  colonists  but  the  inhabitants  of  the  maritime  cities,  all 
interested  in  the  commerce  of  France,  and  the  friends  of 
the  constitution.  A  large  number  of  petitions  for  a  com- 
mittee to  consider  the  affairs  of  the  dependencies  was  sent  to 

119  La  Croix,  i.,  12. 
i20Garran,  i.,  74. 

121  Moniteur,  1790,  146.     Letter  dated  5  Nov.  1789. 

122  Ibid,  46. 
"^49. 


111.,  42,  43. 


^^^  An  Historical  Account  of  the  Black  Empire  of  Hayti  ;  comprehending  a 
view  of  the  principal  transactions  of  the  Revolution  with  its  ancient  and  modem 
state  (London,  1805),  no. 

12^  La  Croix,  i.,  15,  says  that  the  government  oiScials  in  the  island,  after 
the  Declaration  favored  the  admittance  of  the  people  of  color  to  the  enjoy- 
ment of  the  provisions  as  the  best  means  of  opposing  the  pretensions  of 
the  planters.  If  this  is  true,  it  must  have  increased  both  the  fear  of  a 
social  reorganization  and  the  hatred  of  the  planters  for  the  government. 


The  Beginning  of  the  Revolution  in  the  Colony.        43 

the  National  Assembly.'"  To  ascribe  to  the  promulgation 
of  this  declaration  of  rights  all  the  troubles  that  ensued  is  to 
overestimate  its  effect,  but  it  hastened  the  conflict  th^t  op- 
posing interests  rendered  inevitable. 

The  city  of  Cap  Frangais,  then  the  most  influential  place 
in  the  island,  was  especially  under  the  influence  of  the  revo- 
lutionary ideas.  There  originated  the  first  definite  move- 
ment against  the  representatives  of  royal  authority.  Mar- 
bois,  by  his  careful  administration,  support  of  the  colonial 
policy  and  fidelity  to  the  king,  had  won  the  hatred  of  the 
planters."*  Conscious  of  this  he  had  planned  his  departure 
from  the  colony,  when  an  adventurer  named  Chesneau,  or 
Chesnaud,  early  in  October  arrived  at  the  Cape  from  France 
and  declared  that  Marbois  had  been  recalled  in  disgrace  by 
the  National  Assembly.  Chesneau  was  protected  by  the 
people  of  the  city  against  the  attempts  of  the  authorities  to 
arrest  him.  He  was  subsequently  proven  to  have  robbed 
the  mails. 

The  chief  opponents  of  the  royal  authority  in  the  city,  led 
by  Bacon  de  la  Chevalarie,  an  unscrupulous  intriguer,  de- 
termined to  take  advantage  of  this  occurrence  for  the  ac- 
complishment of  their  own  ends.  They  increased  the  hos- 
tility to  the  officials  by  false  reports,  asserted  that  the  slaves 
were  to  be  freed,  and  then  in  the  midst  of  all  the  excitement 
and  disorder,  suggested  that  a  march  be  made  to  Port-au- 
Prince,  the  seat  of  the  government,  in  order  to  seize  Mar- 
bois. The  commander  of  the  royal  troops  at  the  Cape,  by 
spreading  reports  of  slave  insurrections  in  the  country,  suc- 
ceeded in  delaying  the  expedition  long  enough  so  that 
Marbois  could  take  ship  for  France  on  October  the  twenty- 
sixth.""  Although  a  vigorous  attempt  was  made  to  find  ir- 
regularities in  the  intendant's  accounts,  none  could  be  dis- 
covered and  his  published  statement  showed  that  the  finances 
of  the  colony  were  in  a  satisfactory  state.""  Other  ofificials 
at  this  time,  thinking  themselves  in  danger,  after  a  time  of 
concealment  escaped  to  France."' 

From  participation  in  the  proceedings  following  the  news 
of  the  fall  of  the  Bastile,  the  free  people  of  color  were  ex- 

^2''  Sur  les  Troubles  des  Colonies,  etc.  (Paris,  1791),  10,  ii. 

^^^  Moniteur,  1790,  46, 

^"^^  Moniteur,  1790,  46  ;  Garran,  i.,  75-77  ;  Dalmas,  i.,  24-34. 

"°  Mimoire  laissi par  M.  Barb^  de  Marbois,  Intendant  k  Saint- Domingue 
(Bordeaux,  1789).  His  successor  published  a  statement  showing  not  only 
that  there  was  no  irregularity  in  Marbois'  accounts  but  that  the  finances 
had  been  admirably  managed.     Moniteur.  1790,  820. 

"iGarran,  i.,78. 


44         The  Beginning  of  the  Revolution  in  the  Colony. 

eluded.  A  report  that  Moreau  de  Saint-Mery,  a  supporter 
of  the  anti-slavery  ideas,  had  been  appointed  intendant 
aroused  a  storm  of  indignation."' 

All  these  proceedings  were  not  without  guidance  and  di- 
rection. Although  the  history  of  the  committees  and  early 
assemblies  which  directed  the  course  of  events  is  quite  ob- 
scure, and  will  probably  remain  so,  on  account  of  the  lack  of 
minutes  of  their  transactions,  which  were,  in  a  great  degree, 
secret,  the  important  facts  about  their  organization  are 
known.  The  electoral  assemblies,  which  met  in  each  prov- 
ince immediately  after  the  calling  of  the  States-General,  late 
in  1788,  had,  upon  their  dissolution,  appointed  committees 
which  should  sit  in  the  chief  places  of  the  provinces  and 
have  general  control  of  the  interests  of  the  planters.  They 
were  to  draw  up  cahiers,  correspond  with  other  committees 
and  take  such  measures  as  might  be  necessary  to  forward 
the  Revolution  in  San  Domingo.  They  were  called  Provin- 
cial Committees,  but  did  nothing  publicly  during  the  first 
half  of  1789  on  account  of  the  laws  against  the  formation 
of  any  such  bodies.  But  when  concealment  became  no 
longer  necessary  they  usurped  authority  and  announced 
their  existence,  that  of  Port-au-Prince,  for  instance,  ''  send- 
ing notice  to  the  administrators  of  the  colony,  18  October, 
of  its  act  of  organization  of  the  25  January.""^  The  pro- 
vincial committee  of  the  North  with  its  seat  at  the  Cape,  was 
especially  active  until  it  ventured  to  publish  its  cahier  de 
doleances  which  had  been  sent  to  the  deputies  at  Paris. 
This  document  was  so  favorable  to  the  interests  of  the 
planters  and  so  contrary  to  the  principles  of  the  Revolution 
that  a  storm  of  indignation  compelled  the  committee  to 
promise  to  convoke  the  people  for  the  election  of  delegates 
to  a  provincial  assembly."* 

This  assembly  met  on  the  first  of  November,  1789,  includ- 
ing among  its  members  many  of  the  old  committee.  The 
committee  continued  to  exercise  a  general  control  over  the 
affairs  of  the  province  by  request  of  the  newly  assembled 
legislature  until  the  end  of  the  month.  Both  bodies  re- 
nounced the  cahier^^^  and  the  indignation  aroused  by  its 
publication  gradually  died  away,  so  that  the  assembly  did 
not  expel  the  members  of  the  committee,  as  the  people  had 

^32  Moniteur,  1790,  146  ;  Garran,  i.,  107-108. 

^33Garran,  i.,  71,  72. 

^24  Gaterau,  Histoire  des  Troubles  de  S.  Domingue  depuis  le  mois  d'  October^ 
lySg^jtisqu  'au  16  Juillet,  lygi  (Paris,  1792),  6.     Dalmas,  i.,  30. 

^35  Minutes  of  the  Committee  as  quoted  by  Garran,  i.,,  81.  Moniteur, 
1790,  243. 


The  Beginning  of  the  Revolution  in  the  Colony,        45 

demanded,  but  even  passed  them  a  vote  of  thanks  for  their 
general  devotion  to  the  interests  of  the  colony.  On  the 
thirtieth  of  November  the  assembly  declared  itself  perma- 
nent and  formed  an  executive  bureau  which  should  supplant 
the  old  committee. 

The  real  attitude  of  this  assembly,  many  of  whose  leading 
spirits  became  later  the  most  prominent  members  of  the 
General  Colonial  Assembly,  may  be  seen  from  an  enumera- 
tion of  some  of  its  early  legislative  acts.^^"  It  took  the  oath 
of  fidelity  to  the  nation,  the  law  and  the  king^"  and  had  the 
same  administered  to  the  civil  authorities  and  troops  with- 
out orders  from  France.  It  pronounced  its  members  in- 
violable, and  declared  that  the  powers  of  government  for  the 
province  of  the  North  were  vested  entirely  and  exclusively  in 
the  body  of  deputies."^  Allowing  the  constituted  authori- 
ties to  continue  the  exercise  of  their  powers  it  declared  that 
"  these  authorities  could  give  no  order  concerning  the  public 
safety,  or  tending  to  deprive  any  citizen  of  his  liberty  except 
in  concert  with  the  Provincial  Committee."  It  recognized 
the  militia  and  gained  complete  control  over  it  ;^^^  assumed 
control  of  the  public  moneys,  whether  purely  local  or  those 
belonging  to  the  national  government'"  and  asserted  its  "  full 
powers  in  all  that  concerned  the  internal  administration  of 
the  province."'  Books,  papers  and  manuscripts  could  be 
imported  and  sold  only  with  its  consent.'" 

In  the  other  provinces  the  course  of  affairs  was  similar  to 
that  in  the  North.  The  province  of  the  West  was  the  seat 
of  the  royal  government,  which  had  a  more  or  less  repres- 
sive influence  upon  the  revolutionary  party.  There  were 
also  objections  in  this  province  to  the  assumption  of 
power  by  the  provincial  committee,  composed,  as  it  was, 
principally  of  residents  of  Port-au-Prince,  but  not  until 
January,  1790,  did  a  provincial  assembly  meet.  It  delegated 
supervision  of  provincial  affairs  to  the  reorganized  committee 
of  Port-au-Prince  which  played  a  part  in  this  province  simi- 
lar to  that  of  the  assembly  in  the  North.  It  further  in- 
duced the  governor  and  the  troops  to  take  the  oath,  and 
agreed  to  recognize  the  deputies  at  Paris  as  delegates  of  the 

'^^  Garran,  83  sqq  ;  Moniteur,  1790,  243. 

13'  Minutes  of  the  Assembly  of  the  North,  2  Nov.  1789.  Quoted  by 
Garran. 

138  Ibid,  3  Nov. 

139  Ibid,  18  Nov. 

i"!*^  Ibid,  25  Nov.  and  22  Dec. 
1*1  Ibid,  4  Jan.,  1790. 
"2  Ibid,  7  Dec,  1789. 


46         The  Beginning  of  the  Revolution  in  the  Colony. 

province.'"  The  province  of  the  South  followed  the  ex- 
ample of  the  others  but  much  more  slowly,  its  assembly 
meeting  at  Cayes,  15  February.  It  assumed  control  of  the 
finances  of  the  province  and  levied  a  tax  of  thirty  sous  for 
each  slave."* 

With  the  example  of  the  National  Assembly  before  it, 
the  colonial  government  could  not  take  violent  measures 
against  the  local  assemblies  and  committees.  The  protests 
of  the  governor  were  of  little  avail.  He  implicitly  recog- 
nized the  authority  of  the  National  Assembly  in  declaring 
that  many  of  the  claims  and  proceedings  of  the  local  legis- 
lature were  contrary  to  the  early  decrees  of  that  body.  The 
response  shows  the  attitude  of  the  colonists,  for  they  re- 
jected these  laws  as  binding  upon  them  on  the  ground  that 
the  "  deputies  of  San  Domingo  were  not  yet  at  the  Na- 
tional Assembly  when  the  decrees  had  been  passed.*"" 

The  extravagances  of  the  provincial  assemblies  and  com- 
mittees increased  the  number  of  those  who  supported  the 
Governor,  especially  in  the  West.  Here  Peinier  formed 
an  organization  called  Pompons  BlancSy  to  support  the  old 
authority. 

There  was  great  hostility  between  the  Assembly  of  the 
North  and  the  Superior  Council  which  sat  at  Port-au-Prince. 
This  Tribunal,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  the  only  higher 
court  in  the  colony  and  the  consolidation  of  the  Council  of 
the  Northern  Province  with  it  in  1787  had  caused  much  dis- 
satisfaction. This  island  Parlement  declared  all  the  acts  of 
the  Assembly  of  the  North  null  and  void""  and  ordered  it 
no  longer  to  interfere  in  the  administration.  In  return  the 
latter  body,  4  January,  1790,  declared  the  acts  of  the  Su- 
perior Council  annulled  and  re-established  the  Superior 
Council  of  the  Cape,  on  the  ground  that  it  had  been 
illegally  suppressed.  The  installation  of  this  body  was 
celebrated  on  the  sixth  by  a  fete  in  which,  rather  strangely, 
the  officers  of  the  royal  regiment  stationed  in  the  city  took 
part."'  The  Superior  Council  of  Port-au-Prince  sent  to  the 
Minister  of  Marine  an  indictment  of  its  rival,  but  the  Na- 
tional Assembly  referred  the  matter  to  a  committee  which 
seems  never  to  have  reported  it."'     In   a   letter  to  Peinier, 

i43Garran,  i.,  89. 
144  Ibid,  90. 

"6  Lettre  dcrite  h  M.  de  Compte  de  Peynier,  G/n^ral  de  St.  Domingue par  I  As- 
sembUe  Provinciate  de  la  Partie  du  Nord  (1790  ?),  2. 
146  Moniteur,  1790,  243. 
"'Garran,  i.,  88. 
^'^^  Archives,  xi.,  790. 


The  Beginning  of  the  Revolution  in  the  Colony,        47 

30  December,  1789,  the  Assembly  of  the  North  defended  its 
action  on  the  ground  that  he,  the  governor,  had  failed  to  carry 
out  his  orders  from  France.  It  insisted  that  the  colony  had 
of  its  own  free  will  attached  itself  to  France  under  the  ex- 
press condition  that  it  should  be  subject  to  no  tax  or  change 
of  government  without  its  own  consent."^ 

On  the  seventh  of  January,  Bacon  de  la  Chevalarie,  who 
was  President  of  the  Assembly  of  the  North,  wrote  to 
Peinier  that  he  would  not  be  recognized  as  Governor  until 
he  should  take  the  oath  prescribed  by  national  law,  and  that 
all  that  was  necessary  for  the  convocation  of  a  colonial  as- 
sembly was  the  agreement  of  the  three  provinces.""  La 
Chevalarie  was  made  captain-general  of  the  national  troops. 
In  the  West  also  there  were  signs  of  disaffection  and  on 
January  thirteenth  the  electors  of  the  West  ordered  the 
royal  officers  to  delay  the  execution  of  every  new  law  of 
the  National  Assembly  until  the  convocation  of  a  colonial 
assembly.  Peinier  consented  to  this."^  He  seems  to  have 
been  lacking  somewhat  in  decision  and  constancy,  and 
had  lost  his  main  support  in  Marbois.  At  this  time  he  was 
more  favorably  disposed  toward  the  people  of  the  island, 
assisted  several  times  in  the  sittings  of  the  Provincial  Com- 
mittee of  the  West,  and  took  an  oath  never  to  march  the 
troops  against  the  citizens  except  at  the  request  of  the  mu- 
nicipal officers  or  of  the  committee."^ 

During  all  this  period  the  people  of  color  were  quiet ;  but 
as  the  planters  resident  in  Patis  perceived  in  August,  1789, 
the  growing  inclination  to  give  all  free  citizens,  regardless  of 
color,  equal  rights,  they  stirred  up  their  constituents  to  per- 
secution and  outrage.  They  instructed  them  to  arrest  sus- 
pected persons,  seize  writings  "  where  even  the  word  Liberty 
was  mentioned,"  distrust  people  of  color  from  Europe  and 
hinder  their  re-embarking  for  France.  These  instructions 
were  subscribed  to  by  all  the  delegates  except  Gerard,  who 
said  the  surest  way  to  preserve  slavery  was  to  gain  over  the 
free  people  of  color."^  This  despised  class  had  been  admit- 
ted to  the  primary  assemblies  which  elected  delegates  to  the 

^■^^  See  reference  145.  From  the  first  the  colonial  party  maintained  this 
view  very  strongly  and  constantly.  All  the  memorials  of  the  colonial  com- 
mittee of  France  and  the  writings  of  Gouy  d'  Arsy  are  full  of  this  theory. 

^^^  Moniteur,  1790,  243. 

isi  Ibid. 

^^2  Relation  authentique  de  tout  ce  que  s'est  pass^  h  St.  Domingue  avant  et 
aptls  le  depart  forc^ de  V  Assembl^ecoloniale (9  Aug.,  1790),  4. 

^^^  Raimond,  Veritable  Origin  des  Troubles  de  S.  Domingue  et  des  differente 
causes  qui  les  ont produits  (Paris,  1792),  6-ii.     Text  of  the  letters. 


48         The  Beginning  of  the  Revolution  in  the  Colony. 

provincial  assemblies,"*  but  the  letter  of  the  deputies  so 
terrified  the  whites  that  the  colored  people  were  at  once  ex- 
cluded from  all  participation  in  political  matters  and  sub- 
jected to  outrage.'"  The  people  of  color  of  Petit-Goave 
presented  to  the  local  committee  an  address  demanding  their 
rights,  but  the  feeling  of  the  planters  was  so  bitter  that  Fer- 
raud  de  Baudi^res,  a  senechal  of  the  place  and  president  of 
the  committee,  who  had  drawn  this  address  was  murdered 
for  favoring  the  pretensions  of  the  lower  caste.  For  similar 
offences  Lacombe,  a  colored  man  of  the  Cape,  and  Labadie 
of  Aquin  were  killed,  while  others  were  subjected  to  gross 
outrages.  These  murders  occurred  in  November.  Although 
a  pretence  was  made  of  punishing  those  who  committed 
them,  nothing  came  of  it  and  the  Club  Massiac  approved  of 
them.'^®  Raymond  says  that  the  Petit s-Blancs  were  responsi- 
ble for  these  persecutions,  and  that  on  the  receipt  of  news  that 
mulattoes  had  arrived  from  Paris,  the  colored  people  were 
hunted  in  the  woods  like  wild  beasts."^  The  correspondence 
of  the  people  of  color  was  searched  but  was  found  free  from 
fault.'^*  The  whites  urged  the  Chambers  of  Commerce  in 
France  not  to  allow  negroes  and  mulattoes  to  embark  for 
the  island.'"®  The  people  of  color  could  enter  the  militia  or 
national  guard  but  were  forbidden  by  la  Chevalarie  to  elect 
their  own  officers.'""  It  was  most  unfortunate  that  the  Cre- 
oles were  not  more  far-seeing  and  politic.  Had  the  free 
people  of  color  been  given  their  political  rights  a  strong  op- 
position could  have  been  made  to  all  untimely  efforts  to  free 
the  slaves  and  the  terrible  blood-shed  of  later  years  avoided. 
The  chief  leaders  of  the  revolutionary  party  in  the  prov- 
ince of  the  North  were  Bacon  de  la  Chevalarie,  who  aroused 
the  jealousy  of  the  people  by  his  intriguing  disposition  and 
his  assumption  of  office  after  office;  and  I'Archeveque 
Thibaut.  The  latter  had  taken  part  in  the  oath  of  the 
tennis  court  and  was  one  of  the  delegates  admitted  to  the 
National  Assembly.  He  resignedj  on  24  August,  1789,  how- 
ever, because  of  the  changed  state  of  affairs  and  because  his 
constituents  had  sent  him  to   to  the  States  General,  not  to 

^^^Gaterau,  19.     Raimond,  Veritable  Origin,  11. 

^^^  Rallier,  Nouvelles  Observation  sur  Saint-Domingue  (Paris  ?)  8. 

156  Yox  full  description  of  these  affairs  see  almost  any  of  the  histories,  es- 
pecially Garran,  i.,  109-113.      Raimond,   Veritable  Origin,  11-14. 

^"  Archives,  xxvi.,  68. 

^^8  Garran,  i.,  113. 

^^^  Raimond,  Veritable  Origin,  20,  21,  where  the  text  of  a  letter  written 
the  Chambers  is  given. 

^^^ Moniteur,  1790,243.     Gaterau,  23,24. 


The  Beginning  of  the  Revolution  in  the  Colony.        49 

the  National  Assembly/"  Or)  his  return  to  the  colony  he 
was  at  once  admitted  to  the  assembly  of  the  North  and  took 
an  important  part  in  its  proceedings. 

The  rivalry  between  Chevalarie  and  Thibaut  broke  out 
soon  after  in  a  bitter  dispute  in  the  Assembly,  in  which  each 
accused  the  other  of  murderous  intentions.  A  bodily  en- 
countre  was  prevented  by  force.  Thibaut  secured  the  dis- 
solution of  Chevalarie's  staff;  The  forts  in  the  possession  of 
the  royal  troops  were  by  order  of  the  Assembly  handed  over 
to  the  patriotic  troops  of  Chevalarie.  But  soon  tiring  of 
this  garrison  duty,  the  citizen  soldiers  besought  the  regulars 
to  resume  control  of  the  fortifications.  By  the  loss  of  his 
staff  and  of  the  forts  Chevalarie's  influence  was  greatly  di- 
minished.^^'^  Everywhere  there  was  dissension  and  it  was 
high  time  that  an  attempt  should  be  made  to  establish  some 
central  authority.  It  was  hoped  that  this  would  be  brought 
about  by  the  calling  of  the  Colonial  Assembly. 

^"  Garran,  i.,  119,  120. 
'^2  Gaterau,  37,  38. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  CONSTITUTIONAL  BASIS  FOR  THE  COLONY. 

The  essential  features  of  the  plan  for  a  Colonial  Assembly 
concerted  by  the  planters  resident  in  Paris  and  la  Luzerne 
were  that  planters  alone  should  be  regarded  as  citizens,  that 
the  Assembly  should  be  convened  by  the  orders  of  the  royal 
governor,  and  that  the  authority  of  the  National  Assembly 
was  in  no  way  recognized.  The  colonial  deputies  had  sug- 
gested a  plan  which  did  not  recognize  the  authority  of  the 
colonial  administration.  Not  until  27  October,  1789,  did 
the  question  of  the  relations  of  the  colonics  to  the  mother 
country  come  before  the  National  Legislature.  On  that  date 
there  was  read  to  the  Assembly  a  memoir  from  the  ministers 
to  the  king,  cMling  attention  to  certain  subjects  requiring 
consideration.  Noting  the  great  differences  between  France 
and  her  colonists,  it  points  out  that  many  laws  passed  are 
not  suited  to  the  colonies,  although,  being  passed  for  the 
whole  nation,  they  must  be  enforced  everywhere;  that  tem- 
porary laws  are  frequently  necessary  for  the  colonies  on  ac- 
count of  the  remoteness  from  France,  and  that  the  adminis- 
tration should  be  in  the  hands  of  those  empowered  to  exer- 
cise it  at  once  as  necessity  might  arise. ^^^  The  memoir  was 
sent  to  the  Committee  on  Commerce. 

On  the  twenty-sixth  of  November,  M.  de  Curt,  deputy 
from  Guadeloupe,  in  the  name  of  the  united  colonies,  moved 
that  a  committee  of  twenty,  one-half  deputies  of  the  colonies 
and  the  other  half  deputies  from  the  maritime  cities  especially 
interested  in  commerce  and  manufacturing,  be  appointed  to 
consider  all  matters  which  related  to  these  important  pos- 
sessions.^^* This  motion  was  in  the  interests  of  the  colonial 
delegates  whose  power  would  be  greatly  increased  by  the 
appointment  of  such  a  standing  committee.  Blin  of  Nantes, 
a  member  of  the  Club  Massiac,  opposed  the  measure, 
claiming  that  the  delegates  did  not  represent  the  colony. 
Cocherel,  the  only  one  of  the  six  deputies  from  the  island 
who  supported  the  Club  Massiac,  maintained  the  view  that 

^^^  M^moire  adress^ par  les  ministres  du  roia  V  AsseniblSe  Nationale,  le  2J  Oc- 
tobre,  i'/8q.     (Paris,  Royal  Printing  House),  and  Archives,  ix,,  592. 

^^^  Archives,  x,,  263-267.  Printed  separately  as  Motion  de  M.  de  Curt, 
depute  de  la  Guadeloupe  au  nom  des  colonies  riunies.     (Paris,  1789). 


The  Constitutional  Basis  for  the  Colony,  5 1 

San  Domingo  was  not  a  colony,  having  of  its  own  accord 
and  upon  certain  conditions,  made  an  alliance  with  France.'" 
Further  he  asserted  that  it  was  not  a  French  province  since 
its  natural  conditions  and  the  existence  of  slavery  (which 
he  represented  as  a  philanthropic  means  of  transferring  the 
negroes  from  the  horrors  of  their  native  homes  to  the  de- 
lights and  safety  of  civilization)  prevented  its  being  governed 
by  the  same  constitution  as  France.  He  called  it  a  Franco- 
American  province,  and  said  that  it  should  have  a  constitu- 
tion composed  partly  of  the  constitution  of  France  and 
partly  of  measures  necessitated  by  the  peculiar  characteris- 
tics of  the  colony.  He  claimed  that  this  constitution  must 
be  drawn  up  by  the  inhabitants  resident  in  San  Domingo, 
and  that  the  National  Assembly  might  accept  but  could  not 
reject  or  radically  amend  ;  and  that  if  it  would  not  accept 
the  constitution  it  might  renounce  all  rights  in  the  island 
but  could  do  nothing  that  would  conflict  with  the  alleged 
original  contract.  The  debate  was  resumed  on  the  first  of 
December.""  Moreau  de  St.-M^ry  spoke  in  favor  of  the 
proposed  measure.  Blin  spoke  again  for  self-government  in 
the  colonies,  and  compared  San  Domingo  to  Ireland  with 
its  separate  legislature  although  having  a  common  monarch 
with  England  and  Scotland.  The  colonists  should  make 
their  own  constitution  and  the  proposed  colonial  committee 
should  not  be  appointed.  The  debate  was  resumed  on  the 
second  and  third  of  December  with  speeches  by  Gouy  de 
Arsy,"^  Abb^  Gr^goire,  Abb6  Maury  and  others.  It  was 
finally  voted  that  the  committee  be  not  established,'"® 

Not  until  the  second  of  March  did  the  affair  of  San  Do- 
mingo again  come  before  the  National  Assembly.     On  that 

^^^  This  claim  was  made  first  at  least  as  early  as  the  meeting  of  the  Nota- 
bles before  the  convocation  of  the  States  General.     Garran,  i.,  147. 

'^'^^  Archives ^  x.,  346-353. 

^^■^  D'Arsy  made  a  fierce  attack  on  la  Luzerne  as  hostile  to  the  interests  of 
the  colony.  La  Luzerne  felt  called  upon  to  defend  himself,  asking  through 
Vicomte  de  Mirabeauthat  his  administration  be  investigated.  Archives^  x., 
356,  357,  362-364.  These  charges  against  la  Luzerne  were  frequently  made 
by  the  colonists  and  especially  by  d'Arsy.  Archives,  xvii.,  211  ;  xviii.,  561  ; 
also  Lettre  et  declaration  des  deputes  de  Saint-Domingue  h  /'  Assemble  Na~ 
tionale  adressde  ^  leur  comniettans ;  also  Nouvelles  extreniement  importantes 
arrivdes  hier  a  Paris  and  Opinion  de  M.  le  marquis  de  Gouy  d'Arsy.  The  for- 
mal denunciation  of  la  Luzerne  by  the  deputies  of  San  Domingo  was  drawn 
up  by  Gouy  d'Arsy  and,  with  appendix  containing  much  documentary  evi- 
dence, covers  three  hundred  printed  pages.  It  has  already  been  frequently 
cited.  Charges  of  all  kinds  of  tyranical  conduct  were  made.  No  man  was 
more  bitterly  hated  in  San  Domingo  than  the  Minister  of  Marine  who  rep- 
resented all  that  was  distasteful  in  the  old  regime. 

^^s  It  may  be  observed  that  the  restrictions  on  colonial  trade  were  an 
active  cause  of  discontent.     Archives^  x.,  17-37  ;  xi.,  2,  38,  40-42  ;  viii.,  553, 


52  The  Constitutional  Basis  for  the  Colony, 

date  were  presented  papers  giving  an  account  of  the  course 
of  events  in  the  island."'  Colonial  affairs  were  referred  to 
a  committee  of  twelve  with  orders  to  report  on  the  eighth."" 
As  the  debate  and  action  of  that  day  mark  an  epoch  in  the 
history  of  San  Domingo,  it  will  be  well  to  consider  first  the 
course  of  events  leading  to  the  calling  of  the  Colonial  Gen- 
eral Assembly. 

We  have  seen  that  there  were  as  many  factions  in  France 
as  in  the  island:  The  extreme  royalists  wished  the  colony 
to  remain  under  the  absolute,  exclusive  authority  of  the 
king ;  the  Club  Massiac  claimed  that  the  king  and  a  Colo- 
nial Assembly  should  govern  and  that  the  National  Assem- 
bly had  no  concern  with  the  dependencies  ;  the  colonial  depu- 
ties bitterly  opposed  the  idea  that  the  king  and  his  ministers 
should  have  any  control  over  the  colony  and,  although 
recognizing  as  yet  the  power  of  the  National  Assembly,  they 
wished  this  to  be  surrendered  to  a  committee  composed  of 
themselves  and  the  delegates  from  the  commercial  cities  so 
that  they  might  support  the  power  of  the  planters  against  the 
people  of  color.  The  greater  part  of  the  Assembly  was  sus- 
picious of  all  these  parties,  judging  that  the  interests  of 
France  as  well  as  those  of  the  free  mulattoes  demanded  that 
the  control  of  the  island  should  fall  into  the  hands  of  no 
faction.  From  reasons  of  humanity  many  favored  the 
people  of  color,  with  whom  the  royal  party  was  inclined  to 
unite  in  order  to  gain  strength  against  the  planters,  the  bit- 
ter enemies  of  the  royal  prerogative. 

The  plan  of  the  ministers  for  a  Colonial  Assembly  ap- 
proved by  the  Club  Massiac  had  been  sent  to  Peinier  accom- 
panied by  a  letter  of  instruction.  A  duplicate  of  this  letter 
sent  by  the  way  of  the  Cape  was  seized  by  the  Assembly  of 
the  North  and  opened.  In  it  la  Luzerne  instructed  Peinier 
**  to  influence,  by  way  of  persuasion  the  opinions  of  the  mem- 
bers who  compose  the  Colonial  Assembly  to  prevent  or 
to  moderate  any  heated  feeling,^^^  The  publication  of  this 
letter  and  the  proposed  plan  of  convocation  aroused  a  storm 
of  opposition  in  the  colony.  The  indignation  was  directed 
as  much  against  the  Club  Massiac  as  the  ministry.  The  de- 
nunciation of  la  Luzerne  by  the  deputies  was  approved  by 
the  electors  of  the  West  and  the  Assembly  of  the  North. 
The  Club  Massiac  was  censured  and  its  members  ordered  to 

169  Partially  described  in  the  last  chapter. 

'^'^^  Archives^  sXi.,  "2.-^.  This  "  colonial  committee"  should  not  be  con- 
fused with  one  bearing  that  name  appointed  the  year  before  by  resident 
colonists  to  represent  their  interests. 

"^  Garran.  i.,  91  I  Archives,  xii.,  2. 


The  Constitutional  Basis  for  the  Colony,  53 

return  to  the  colony  or  suffer  confiscation  of  their  property. 
The  Assembly  of  the  North  also  protested  against  the  Na- 
tional Assembly's  passing  measures  for  San  Domingo,  and 
declared  that  the  local  legislature  must  regulate  the  govern- 
ment and  constitution  of  the  colony. ^'^ 

The  three  provincial  assemblies  rejected  the  plan  of  a 
colonial  assembly  on  the  ground  that  the  ministry  had  ex- 
ceeded its  powers,  and  the  Assembly  of  the  North  declared 
the  action  of  the  Governor  calling  the  colonial  assembly  for 
the  fifteenth  of  March  illegal.  Correspondence  followed 
looking  to  the  calling  of  a  general  assembly  by  the  pro- 
vincial assemblies  therriselves.  On  *  the  twenty-fourth  of 
December,  the  Assembly  of  the  North  wrote  to  the  com- 
mittees of  the  South  and  West  saying  that  as  they  all  agreed 
on  the  necessity  of  an  assembly,  they  ought  to  consider 
details.  It  declared  that  the  colony  was  an  '*  ally  "  not  a 
"  subject  "  of  France  and  revealed  no  willingness  to  submit 
to  the  National  Assembly.^^^ 

The  plan  of  the  Assembly  of  the  West,  agreed  to  by  the 
others  declared  that  "  the  deputies  should  be  elected  by  the 
primary  assemblies  of  each  parish  by  the  citizens  domiciled 
there  for  a  year  and  paying  taxes.  No  one  should  be  per- 
mitted to  vote  by  proxy."  The  North  was  to  send  eighty 
deputies,  the  West  seventy-four  and  the  South  fifty-eight,  a 
total  of  two  hundred  and  twelve.  In  order  to  avoid  the  in- 
fluence of  the  government  at  Port-au-Prince,  the  Assembly 
was  summoned  to  meet  at  St.  Marc,  twenty-fifth  of  March, 
1790.^^*  Such  were  the  views  of  the  colonists.  Let  us  now 
consider  the  action  meanwhile  taken  by  the  National  As- 
sembly. 

Among  the  members  of  the  colonial  committee  appointed 
on  the  second  of  March  was  Barnave,  who  was  its  chair- 
man. He  favored  the  Club  Massiac^'^  and  opposed  the  peo- 
ple of  color.  The  committee  drew  up  and  reported  on  the 
eighth  of  March  2.  measure  which  satisfied  the  colonial  depu- 
ties, the  commercial  cities  and  the  National  Assembly  gen- 
erally. In  his  speech  introducing  the  measure  Barnave 
dwelt  upon  the  importance  of  the  colony  to  France,  upon 
the  injury  done  by  the  advocates  of  emancipation  and  upon 
the  importance  of  avowing  that  the  Declaration  of  Rights 

"2  Garran,  i.,  92,  93, 
^''2  Ardouin,  i. ,  121,  122. 
''*  Garran,  i.,  94,  95. 

"5  Garran  says  that  he  resided  with  the  Lameths  (wealthy  colonists),  and 
implies  that  he  may  have  been  bribed  by  the  planters,  i.,  128. 


54  The  Constitutional  Basis  for  the  Colo7ty, 

of  the  Twentieth  of  August  did  not  mean  the  abolition  of 
slavery  or  equal  rights  for  the  people  of  color.  The  decree, 
prefaced  by  a  preamble  declaring  that  the  colonies  are  a 
part  of  the  French  Empire,  but  that  it  had  never  been  in- 
tended to  comprehend  them  in  the  constitution  decreed  for 
the  kingdom,  or  to  subject  them  to  laws  incompatible  with 
their  local  circumstances,  declares  that  each  colony  may 
make  known  its  wishes  in  regard  to  constitution  and  ad- 
ministration by  the  existing  colonial  assemblies  or  such  as 
may  be  immediately  called ;  that  the  decree  upon  munici- 
palities and  administrative  assemblies  shall  be  sent  to  the 
colonies  for  their  consideration  ;  and  that  the  colonial  as- 
semblies may  suggest  such  amendments  to  the  prohibitive 
laws  on  commerce  as  seem  to  them  desirable,  these  not  to 
become  laws,  however,  until  after  an  expression  of  opinion 
from  the  commercial  cities  and  the  approval  of  the  Assem- 
bly. It  closes  with  a  declaration  that  no  changes  in  slavery 
shall  be  made  and  that  the  nation  relies  upon  the  patriotism 
of  the  colonists. 

The  report  was  received  with  applause,  and  when  Mira- 
beau  attempted  to  speak  his  voice  was  drowned  by  cries  of 
"  aux  voix  !  aux  voix  !"  The  decree  was  adopted  nearly 
unanimously."" 

The  planters  had  by  skillful  intrigues  and  alliances,  and 
by  Barnave's  eloquence,  won  a  great  victory  over  the  amis 
des  noirs,  the  National  Assembly  having  declared  that  the 
new  order  of  things,  so  threatening  to  the  castes  in  the  colo- 
nies, did  not  extend  to  those  places.  Further  by  allowing 
existing  assemblies  to  make  representations  upon  the  form 
of  constitution  best  suited  to  the  interests  of  the  colonies, 
and  by  speaking  of  assemblies  elected  by  the  citizens,  it  ex- 
cluded the  people  of  color,  for  in  the  existing  colonial  as- 
semblies they  were  not  recognized,  and  it  was  strenuously 
maintained  by  the  planters  that  the  free  colored  people  were 
not  citizens. 

The  latter  class  knew  that  something  must  be  done  to 
protect  their  interests  so  seriously  endangered.  The  people 
of  color  in  the  island  had  been  quiet  so  far,  because  they 
thought  that  the  ideas  of  the  new  era  would  secure  them 
equality.     If  they  were  deceived  a  revolt  might  follow.     The 

^"^^  Archives,  xii.,  68-73.  0/£m^«j- of  Vicounte  de  Mirabeau  and  Petion 
de  Villeneuve  upon  the  slave  trade  are  annexed  to  the  minutes  of  that  ses- 
sion, 75-94.  Mirabeau  advocates  a  retention  of  the  existing  order  of  things 
both  as  regards  the  slave  trade  and  commercial  restrictions  with  investiga- 
tions and  laws  to  correct  abuses. 


The  Constitutional  Basis  for  the  Colony,  55 

colored  people  of  Paris  petitioned  the  Assembly  and  made 
representations  to  the  colonial  committee,  saying  that  in  the 
instructions  which  were  to  accompany  the  Decree  of  the 
Eighth  of  March  there  must  be  some  recognition  of  their 
rights  of  citizenship.'"  Raimond  says,  that  from  the  first 
these  instructions  were  so  vague  that  interminable  quarrels 
between  the  two  classes  of  free  people  were  inevitable.  To 
the  demands  of  the  people  of  color,  Barnave  answered  that 
the  Assembly  could  use  no  words  which  would  recognize 
class  distinctions,  but  finally  consented  to  change  *'  citoyens" 
to  **  toutes  personnes."  The  deputies,  according  to  Rai- 
mond, wrote  to  the  colony  that  these  words  should  be  in- 
terpreted to  mean  whites  only.'" 

The  instructions  were  simply  regulations  which  should 
govern  the  summoning  of  a  colonial  assembly  or  the  con- 
tinuance of  such  as  might  be  found  existing  when  the 
instructions  should  reach  the  island.  As  a  general  principle 
the  colonial  committee  decided  to  made  no  innovations  in 
the  relations  of  the  classes,  but  to  allow  the  colonists  to 
settle  the  question  for  themselves  on  the  ground  that  they 
were  most  interested. 

On  the  twenty-third  of  March  Barnave  reported  this  meas- 
ure providing  for  the  proper  execution  of  the  previous  de- 
cree. The  fourth  article  provided  that  *'  all  persons  twenty 
five  years  of  age,  owners  of  real  estate,  or,  in  default  of  such 
property,  domiciled  in  the  parish  for  two  years  and  paying 
a  tax  should  meet  to  form  the  parish  assemblies."  These 
parish  assemblies  should  elect  delegates  to  a  colonial  assem- 
bly. The  twelfth  article  provided  that  if  there  should  exist 
in  the  colony  a  previously  called  colonial  assembly  and  this 
did  not  of  itself  dissolve,  the  primary  assemblies  might  de- 
cide whether  this  should  continue  or  a  new  one  be  elected  ; 
and  if  the  majority  decided  for  a  new  assembly,  the  gov- 
ernor should  summon  it.''* 

In  the  debate'^"  Abb^  Maury  resented  the  view  that  the 
colony  was  an  ally  and  not  a  subject,  insisting  on  the  unity 
of  the  nation.  He  opposed  the  granting  of  a  constitution. 
After  one  or  two  speeches  came  a  very  curious  evasion  of 
the  most  important  question  in  colonial  politics.  Abb6 
Gr^goire  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  article  four  was 
ambiguous  and  said  "  the  deputies  of  the  colonies   inform 

^''"'JGarran,  i.,Bi36. 
^'8  Veritable  Origin,  etc.,  23,  24. 
^'^  Archives,  xii.,  312-318. 
*8°Ibid,  xii.,  318-324. 


5  6  The  Constitutional  Basis  for  the  Colony, 

me  that  they  do  not  intend  to  deprive  the  people  of  color 
of  their  eligibility,  and  I  forbear  speaking  on  condition  that 
they  will  renounce  the  aristocracy  of  color."  Cocherel  re- 
plied :  "  They  did  not  say  that  and  I  protest  against  the  as- 
sertion in  the  name  of  my  province."  After  a  little  discus- 
sion in  which  it  transpired  that  Arthur  Dillon  of  Martinique, 
speaking  for  that  island  only,  had  made  the  statement 
referred  to,  the  Assembly  voted  not  to  discuss  the  question. 
Gr^goire  at  a  subsequent  time  said  that  Barnave  told  him 
plainly  that,  the  terms  used  in  the  article  being  general,  the 
people  of  color  were  included.'"  Garran  accepts  Gr^goire's 
statement.'^'' 

Thus  the  Assembly  refused  to  consider  the  question  above 
all  others  needing  settlement.  The  decree  literally  inter- 
preted would  admit  the  free  people  of  color  to  the  exercise 
of  the  suffrage  ;  but  the  traditions  and  customary  law  of  the 
island  were  against  any  such  concession.  It  is  evident  that 
the  colonial  deputies  did  not  intend  that  the  colored  people 
should  be  admitted  to  full  citizenship.  The  explanation  of 
this  evasive  action  of  the  Assembly  is  probably  to  be  found 
in  its  unwillingness  to  do  anything  which  might  seem  to  be 
inconsistent  with  its  Declaration  of  Rights  and  other  enun- 
ciations of  fundamental  principles,  while,  at  the  same  time, 
it  was  felt  that  no  hasty  action  should  be  taken  in  settle- 
ment of  a  question  affecting  the  commercial  interests  of 
France,'^^  After  further  debate  in  which  Gouy  d'  Arsy  made 
another  bitter  attack  on  la  Luzerne,"*  the  measure  was 
passed  as  presented  by  the  colonial  committee  (28  March, 
I790)-'" 

^^^  Archives,  xxvi.,  i6, 

182  i.,  138. 

183  Garran,  i.,  137,  says  that  Cocherel  demanded  formally  that  the  people 
of  color  be  excluded  by  name  from  the  class  of  citizens  ;  that  Reynaud  and 
Dillon  asserted  that  they  already  enjoyed  the  rights  of  citizenship  ;  that 
Gr6goire  insisted  that  they  should  be  expressly  included  in  article  four  ; 
that  Barnave  and  several  colonial  deputies  answered  him  that  "  c'  6tait  le 
r^sultat  necessaire  de  1'  article,  qu'  on  ne  devoit  pas  y  mettre  une  6noncia- 
tion  qui  pourrait  faire  supposer  que  le  droit  des  hommes  de  couleur  6tait 
contestable  et  contest^,"  and  that  the  amendment  was  withdrawn.  He 
cites  contemporary  papers  but  neither  the  Archives  nor  the  Moniteur  gives 
this  account. 

18^  In  his  speech  he  read  letters  showing  the  feeling  in  the  colony.  Bacon 
de  la  Chevalarie  had  become  so  unpopular  that  he  had  been  obliged  to  re- 
sign the  presidency  of  the  Assembly  of  the  North,  in  which  place  he  was 
succeeded  by  Thibaud.  He  still  retained  command  of  the  forces.  Dal- 
mas,  i.,  42  ;  Moniteur^  1790,  474.  The  speech  and  letters  were  printed  sepa- 
rately under  the  title  Opinion  de  M.  le  Marquis  de  Gouy  d^  Arsy,  depute  de 
Saint- Domingue  sur  le  r^tablissement  du  Conseil  Superior  du  Cap,  etc.  Mars, 
irgo, 

185  ^rMzVifj-,  xii.,  381-387. 


The  Constitutional  Basis  for  the  Colony,  57 

Thus  far  then  the  National  Assembly  had  done  nothing 
to  offend  the  planters  and  nothing  to  make  effective,  out  of 
France,  the  ideas  of  liberty  and  equality.  It  had  declared 
that  the  Declaration  of  Rights  did  not  apply  to  the  depen- 
dencies ;  it  refused  to  admit  the  people  of  color  to  citizen- 
ship. Far  from  giving  the  slaves  their  freedom,  it  refused 
the  free  people  of  color  their  political  rights  which  even  the 
Black  Code  of  Louis  XIV  had  granted.''*  The  colonial 
deputies  had  won  a  signal  victory  and  took  the  credit  for  it. 
In  order  to  be  able  to  protest  against  any  measure  that 
might  be  passed,  they  voted  that  no  one  of  their  number 
should  belong  to  the  colonial  committee.  When  Gerard 
and  Reynaud  were  elected  members  of  it,  Cocherel  objected 
strongly  to  their  acceptance.  Gerard,  however,  always  more 
moderate  declared  that  his  duty  led  him  to  accept.  It  is  re- 
corded that  '*  M.  le  Chevalier  de  Cocherel  reclame  vive- 
ment  "  which  he  often  did,  but  in  this  case  his  objections 
availed  not.'" 

In  a  letter  to  their  constituents  signed  by  all  except 
Gerard  the  colonial  deputies  dwell  upon  the  impossibility  of 
**  telling  all  the  measures  which  they  had  been  obliged  to 
take  "  to  secure  the  almost  unanimous  vote  in  favor  of  the 
Decree  of  the  Eighth  of  March  ''  nearly  all  the  articles  of 
which  they  had  suggested  to  the  colonial  committee."  They 
also  claimed  to  have  dictated  the  instructions  of  the  Twenty- 
eighth  of  March.  This  great  success  they  consider  to  be  a 
result  of  having  deputies  in  the  National  Assembly  rather 
than  envoys  to  it.  It  is  thus  they  have  secured  a  majority 
for  a  measure  which  "  has  forever  removed  the  question  of 
enfranchisement  of  the  slaves,  of  the  abolition  of  the  slave 
trade  and  which  has  assured  the  happiness  of  their  beloved 
country,  by  securing  for  it  the  right  of  making  its  constitu- 
tion and  of  presenting  it,  as  a  matter  of  form  to  the  National 
Assembly  which  will  decree  it  and  to  the  king  who  will  sanc- 
tion it.'"*'     So  the  deputies  in  Paris  interpreted  the  decree. 

^^^  Articles  57-59.     Placide-Justin  gives  this  J^dii  in  full,  153-174,  as  does 
Madiou,  iii.,  442-451. 
^^"^  Archives,  xii.,  19. 
^^^  Garran,  i.,  140-143.     The  letter  is  given  at  length. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  EARLY  DAYS  OF  THE   GENERAL  ASSEMBLY. 

On  the  twenty-fifth  of  March,  1790,  the  colonial  assembly 
met  at  St.  Marc  and  organized  provisionally,  but  the  tardy 
arrival  of  the  members  delayed  the  final  organization  until 
the  fifteenth  of  April.  It  was  composed  principally  of 
planters,  with  some  retired  officers,  some  lawyers  and  a  few 
merchants,  the  latter  coming  almost  entirely  from  the  cities 
of  Cap  Frangais  and  St.  Marc.  Of  the  two  hundred  and 
twelve  members,  twenty-four  were  from  Cap  Frangais,  six- 
teen from  Port-au-Prince,  and  eight  from  Cayes,  each  of  the 
fifty-two  parishes  in  the  colony  being  represented  by  at  least 
two  delegates.  Among  their  number  were  such  men  as 
Daugy,  Advocate-General  to  the  Superior  Council,  Attor- 
ney-General at  the  Cape  and  a  leading  spirit  in  all  the  revo- 
tionary  movements  that  had  occurred  in  the  North  ;  Thi- 
baud  whose  return  from  the  National  Assembly  and  promi- 
nent part  in  the  proceedings  of  the  Assembly  of  the  North 
have  been  described  ;  Bacon  de  la  Chevalarie  ;  Valentin  de 
Cuillon,  Borel  and  others  who  had  been  conspicuous  in  their 
insubordination  to  the  National  Assembly.^*'  It  has  not  been 
sufficiently  noticed  that  into  the  new  Assembly  were  gath- 
ered the  most  active  and  turbulent  spirits  from  the  provin- 
cial assemblies.  It  consequently  took  on  much  such  a  char- 
acter as  they  had  had  before,  while  they,  especially  the 
Assembly  of  the  North,  changed  in  character. 

The  newly  gathered  body  took  the  title  Assembl^e  G^n^- 
rale  de  la  Partie  Franqaise  de  Saint-Domingue,  thus  repudi- 
ating the  description  "  colonial  "  ;  called  its  acts  ''  decrees  "; 
had  placed  on  the  walls  of  its  place  of  meeting  the  motto 
'^  Saint-Dominguey  la  loi  et  la  rot;  notre  union  fait  notre 
force'' ;  and  took  an  oath  to  be  faithful  to  the  duties  en- 
trusted to  it ;  but  its  members  neglected  to  take  the  civic 
oath  which  had  been  decreed  in  France.""  It  ordered  troops 
on  the  way  from  France  to  return."'  Motions  were  made 
without  arousing  any  objection  or  remonstrance  that  the 
deputies  of  the  colony  be  ordered  to  abstain  from  the  meet- 

^^^  Garran,  vol.  i.,  162,  163. 
'^^'Garran,  i.,  164,  165. 
"Ubid,  i.,i66,  167. 


The  Early  Days  of  the  General  Assembly,  59 

ings  of  the  National  Assembly  until  the  General  Assembly 
should  have  perfected  its  constitution  and  should  be  ready 
to  present  it  to  the  National  Assembly  and  the  king  for  ap- 
proval "  if  it  should  be  expedient  to  do  ^^.""'' 

It  decreed  that  all  letters  and  packages  addressed  to  the 
governor  and  intendant,  appearing  to  be  from  the  ministers 
and  to  concern  the  administration  should  be  opened  in  its 
presence.""  It  declared  itself  permanent,  and  its  members 
inviolable"*  and  organized  committees  to  take  charge  of  cer- 
tain lines  of  business.  For  these  acts  they  had  no  warrant 
and  such  measures  were  inconsistent  with  the  recognition  of 
the  supremacy  of  the  National  Assembly. 

The  General  Assembly  was  preeminently  the  representa- 
tive of  the  planters  who  made  up  the  bulk  of  its  members. 
Their  pecuniary  interests  were  opposed  to  those  of  France, 
and  the  prohibitive  commercial  regime  not  only  prevented 
their  seeking  an  advantageous  market  for  their  productions 
but  made  it  impossible  to  buy  manufactured  goods  cheaply, 
threatening  them  at  this  very  time  with  famine  or  such  high 
prices  for  bread  that  slavery  would  be  unprofitable.  They 
had  no  interest,  they  thought,  in  maintaining  the  then  ex- 
isting relations  with  France.  Beyond  question  the  General 
Assembly  was  fully  determined  to  recognize  the  power  of 
the  National  Assembly  as  little  as  it  could,  and  to  make  the 
royal  government  of  the  colony  subordinate  to  itself. 

The  greater  part  of  the  population  probably  approved  of 
this  policy,  but  in  the  Province  of  the  North  there  was  a 
different  feeling.  Cap  Frangais  in  this  province  was  the 
chief  port  in  the  island  and  its  merchants  carried  on  an  im- 
mense commerce,  a  source  of  wealth  to  the  province.  The 
commercial  classes  looked  with  fear  on  any  movement  that 
might  unsettle  trade.  They  were  naturally  conservative  and 
a  revolution  meant  ruin  to  them.  So  there  arose  a  conflict 
of  interests  between  the  Provincial  Assembly  of  the  North, 
controlled  by  the  merchants  of  the  city,  and  the  General 
Assembly,  representing  the  planters  of  all  the  provinces. 
The  way  in  which  the  two  bodies  received  the  Decrees  of  the 
Eighth  and  the  Twenty-eighth  of  March  first  revealed  this 
disagreement. 

The  first  information  of  the  decrees  reached  the  island 
unofficially,  having  been  sent  to  the  Assembly  of  the  North 

'^*  Adresse prononcde  h  V  Assemble  Nationale,  stance  du  jo  Septembre  au  soir 
par  les  d^puth  des  paroisses  du  Port-au-Prince  et  de  la  Croix-des-Bouquets, 
(Paris,  1790?),  6. 

^*3  Garran,  i.,  169,  170.     Archives,  xix.,  547  sqq. 

"*  Adresse  cited  in  reference  192,  5. 


6o  The  Early  Days  of  the  General  Assembly, 

by  merchants  of  Nantes  and  the  deputies  of  San  Domingo. 
It  was  received  by  this  Assembly  with  joy  as  great  as  that 
which  its  passage  had  given  the  merchants  of  France.  Now 
it  was  felt  that  slavery  was  safe  ;  fetes  and  public  ceremonies 
testified  very  generally  to  the  relieved  public  opinion."'  To 
be  sure  some  claimed  that  the  decree  by  saying  "  all  per- 
sons "  included  the  free  people  of  color,  but  the  universality 
of  the  expressions  of  satisfaction  show  that  no  such  inter- 
pretation was  made  by  the  whites  generally.  The  governor 
wrote  subsequently  to  the  inspectors  of  elections  that  the 
decree  was  not  to  be  interpreted  as  admitting  the  people  of 
color  to  the  parish  assemblies."' 

A  courier  was  immediately  dispatched  to  carry  the  news 
to  St.  Marc,  and  even  there  it  aroused  at  first  applause.  It 
was  voted  at  once  that,  on  the  same  day,  the  twenty-sixth 
of  April,  an  address  of  thanks  should  be  sent  to  the  Na- 
tional Assembly  for  having  concerned  itself  about  the  French 
islands  in  America  ;  but,  before  the  official  copy  was  signed, 
it  was  voted  on  the  next  day  to  delay  this  address  of  thanks. 
It  was  never  sent.  On  this  day  also  a  member  having  moved 
that  the  decree  be  at  once  executed,  it  was  voted  inexpedi- 
ent to  take  action."^ 

The  General  Assembly  passed  all  its  acts  as  final  decrees 
to  be  executed  without  the  approval  of  governor  or  king. 
The  basis  of  the  constitution  laid  down  by  the  National 
Assembly  was  disregarded,  and  laws  were  passed  by  the 
colonial  legislature  according  to  the  forms  it  had  itself  pre- 
scribed. This  body  was  to  be  a  law  unto  itself.  It  passed 
laws  against  usury,^^^  reorganized  the  judicial  system, ^^^  and 
extended  greatly  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  the  National 
Assembly  upon  municipalities.""  The  act  prohibiting  usury 
was  a  direct  blow  at  the  merchants  and  favored  the  planters 
who  were  the  borrowing  class.  The  reforms  of  the  judiciary 
were  distasteful  to  the  lawyers.  Thus  the  General  Assem- 
bly antagonized  the  two  classes  that  were  especially  strong 
in  the  Assernbly  of  the  North.  In  recognizing  the  muni- 
cipalities greatly  increased  police  powers  were  put  into  the 
hands  of  supporters  of  the  Assembly  who  thus  were  able  to 
give  that  body  great  assistance.^"^ 

^^^Dalmas,  i.,  50.     Dumourier,  16. 

'®*  Ardouin,  i.,  130,  citing  Rapport  de  Garran  sur  J.  Raimond  en  I7gs>  I4. 
20,  and  Rapport  de  Tarbe  en  i^gi,  9. 

1^'' Garran,  i.,  167,  168,  quoting  minutes  of  the  Assembly. 

^^^Placide-Justin,  186.     La  Croix,  i.,  39. 

199 14  May. 

«oo Garran,  i.,  182. 

«"Ibid,  i.,  182, 184. 


The  Early  Days  of  the  General  Assembly,  6i 

On  the  Twenty-eighth  of  May  the  General  Assembly 
passed  on  act  setting  forth  the  principles  upon  which  the 
new  constitution  was  to  be  based.  In  spite  of  opposition  it 
was  declared  to  have  been  passed  unanimously.^"^  It  was 
called  Bases  Constitutionelles  de  V  Assemble e  G^n^rale.^"^  The 
lengthy  preamble  declares  *'  that  the  right  of  legislating  on 
the  internal  regime  belongs  essentially  and  necessarily  "  to 
the  colony,  and  that  a  new  contract  must  be  made  between 
France  and  the  colony  concerning  their  common  interests. 
It  also  declares  that  all  decrees  passed  by  the  National  As- 
sembly without  consulting  the  colony  are  not  binding  in 
the  island.  The  first  two  articles  declare  that  the  legislative 
power  in  the  internal  affairs  of  the  colony  belongs  to  the 
General  Assembly,  and  that  decrees  of  the  National  Assem- 
bly have  force  only  after  having  been  accepted  by  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly.  Article  VI  declares  that  acts  of  the  Na- 
tional Assembly  in  regard  to  commercial  and  other  common 
relations  shall  not  have  the  force  of  laws  until  approved  by 
the  colonial  assembly.  The  king  was  to  approve  acts 
passed  by  the  assembly  and  the  power  of  the  governor 
general  was  denied.  The  last  article  said,  "  the  preceding 
articles  as  forming  part  of  the  constitution  of  the  French 
colony  of  San  Domingo  shall  be  immediately  transmitted  to 
France  to  receive  there  the  sanction  of  the  king  and  the 
National  Assembly."  Two  members  of  the  General  As- 
sembly resigned  very  soon  after  the  passage  of  this  measure 
on  account  of  its  unwarrantable  provisions,  and  six  deputies 
from  the  North  refused  to  sign  propositions  which  might 
be  regarded  as  acts  of  revolt."*  The  best  commentary 
upon  this  document  will  be  found  in  the  narration  of  the 
subsequent  proceedings  of  this  assembly. 

As  has  already  been  indicated  Bacon  de  la  Chevalarie  had 
lost  influence  in  the  North  on  account  of  his  policy,  which 
was  harmful  to  the  interests  of  the  merchant  classes.  He 
was  elected  president  of  the  General  Assembly,  another 
evidence  of  the  difference  in  policy  between  this  body  and 
the  Assembly  of  the  North.'"'  From  the  first  the  latter 
body,  accepting  the  Decree  of  the  Eighth  of  March,  pro- 
tested against  the  course  of  the  General  Assembly  and  its 

'°' Ibid,  i.,  170.     Moniteur,  1790,  1052. 

'*^*  Ddcret  de  V  AssembUe  Ginerale  de  la  Partie  Frangoise  de  Saint- Domingue 
vendue  a  la  unanimity  en  sa  sdance  du  28  Mai,  lygo.  (Paris,  1790).  The  pre- 
amble is  given  by  Garran,  i.,  171-177,  and  the  body  of  the  act  by  Placide- 
Justin,  183-186,  and  La  Croix,  i.,  34-37. 

'^^^  Dalmas,  i.,  51,  52. 

^^^  Moniteur,  1790,490. 


62  The  Early  Days  of  the  General  Assembly, 

assumption  of  sovereignty.  On  the  seventeenth  of  May  it 
had  refused  to  accept  the  act  of  May  fourteenth  on  the  ju- 
diciary, and  declared  "  that  henceforth  no  decree  will  be 
promulgated  which  has  not  been  previously  communicated 
to  the  provincial  assemblies,  sanctioned  by  the  governor- 
general  and  closed  by  these  words  *  saving  the  definitive 
decision  of  the  National  Assembly  and  the  sanction  of  the 
king.'  "  Thus  the  issue  was  squarely  joined.  The  North 
opposed  a  policy  leading  to  independence,  supported  the 
National  Assembly  and  recognized  the  authority  of  the 
governor."" 

That  the  Assembly  of  the  North  did  not  stand  alone  is 
shown  by  the  fact  that  the  provincial  assembly  of  the  South 
(i6  May)  passed  a  resolution  of  thanks  to  the  National  As- 
sembly for  its  decree  and  entered  into  communication  with 
the  Assembly  of  the  North.  The  act  passed  by  this  body 
on  the  seventeenth  was  ratified  by  several  communities  in 
the  North,  and  parishes  such  as  Croix-des-Bouquets,  Arcaye, 
Petit-Goave,  Fond-des-N^gres  and  Anse-a-Veau  (23  May) 
passed  resolutions  calling  upon  the  General  Assembly  to 
give  literal  adherence  to  the  decrees  of  the  National  As- 
sembly.'" Against  the  decree  of  the  twenty-eighth  of  May 
the  Assembly  of  the  North  issued  (i  June)  a  protest  declar- 
ing incidentally  that  independence  was  very  undesirable.'^"^ 

Some  weeks  after  the  first  information  of  the  decrees  of 
the  National  Assembly  reached  the  island  the  official  notifi- 
cation and  copies  were  received  (31  May)."""  In  its  letter  of 
acknowledgement  of  the  same  date  the  General  Assembly 
pretended  to  find  sanction  for  its  course  in  the  fact  that  the 
initiative  had  been  granted  the  colonies  as  regards  their  in- 
ternal affairs.^'^  On  the  next  day  it  declared  that  it  retracted 
none  of  the  principles  declared  28  May  but  as  public  opinion 
seemed  hostile,  the  purity  of  its  intentions  should  be  shown 
by  allowing  the  people  to  vote  on  the  continuance  of  the 
Assembly.  It  adhered  to  the  decree  of  March  the  eighth 
"  in  all  that  was  not  opposed  to  the  rights  of  the  French 
part  of  San  Domingo  already  established  in  part  by  the  de- 
cree passed  by  the  General  Assembly  the  twenty-eighth  of 
the  past  month  "  !     In  accordance  with  the  instructions  of 

'^^^  Arrit/  V  AssembUe  Provinciale  du  Nord  de  St.  Domingue  .  .  .  ,  au  Cap 
Fran^ais,  stance  du  17  Mai,  ijgo.  Sur  V  extrait  des  registres  des  Deliberations 
de  ladite  Assemble  (Cap  Fran^ais  et  Bordeaux,  1790). 

'°''  Archives y  xix.,  549. 

208Garran,  i.,  185-187.     Moniteur,  1790,  957. 

^^^  Garran  is  mistaken  in  saying  June  first. 

810  D^cret  referred  to  in  reference  203,  16. 


The  Early  Days  of  the  General  Assembly,  63 

March  28th,  "  sans  rien  prijuges  sur  lesdites  instructions^''  it 
invited  the  parishes  to  at  once  declare  whether  they  desire 
the  General  Assembly  to  continue.^^^ 

In  a  letter  to  the  National  Assembly  the  General  Assem- 
bly professes  attachment  to  France'^'^  but  in  its  private  dis- 
patches to  the  deputies  its  tone  is  very  different.  It  calls 
them  "  commissioners  f^^  orders  them  to  recognize  only  its 
own  decrees  of  28  May  and  i  June  ;  instructs  them  to  pre- 
sent these  acts  to  the  National  Assembly  for  its  '*  accepta- 
tion "  but  to  avoid  all  debate,  and  after  the  National  As- 
sembly has  accepted  them  to  present  them  to  the  king  for 
his  •*  acceptation''  Then  they  are  to  present  to  the  king  the 
decrees  passed  in  regard  to  the  internal  affairs  of  the  island. 
If,  however,  the  Assembly  did  not  approve  of  its  acts,  they 
are  to  take  no  further  steps  except  to  inform  the  General 
Assembly."*  Soon  afterward  it  ordered  the  deputies  to  sus- 
pend their  functions  until  it  should  be  decided  whether  it 
was  advisable  for  the  colony  to  maintain  delegates  at  the 
National  Assembly."' 

The  official  news  of  these  acts  was  given  the  National 
Assembly  by  Cocherel,  29  July.  On  motion  of  Barnave,  who 
pointed  out  the  illegality  of  these  decrees,  they  were  re- 
ferred to  the  colonial  committee  in  spite  of  Cocherel's  pro- 
test that  there  was  no  such  committee.""  Much  interest 
was  felt  in  France  about  San  Domingo  and  the  Moniteur  ha-s 
much  to  say  about  the  course  of  events  there.  There  was 
apparently  no  doubt  that  the  General  Assembly  was  insub- 
ordinate and  desired  independence,  but,  said  the  Moniteury 
"  it  is  very  important  to  prove  that  the  colony  of  San  Do- 
mingo is  utterly  opposed  to  the  principles  which  its  General 
Assembly  has  developed  in  its  decrees  of  28  May  and  i 
June.""^ 

There  was  evidence  to  show  that  in  some  measure  this  was 
true  as  we  have  indicated  above.  One  parish  is  said  to  have 
recalled  its  delegates."*  The  Assembly  scattered  addresses 
throughout  the  colony,  endeavoring  to  satisfy  the  people 
that  it  was  in  accord  with  the  National  Assembly.  At  Port- 
au-Prince  it  used  force  to  influence  a  meeting  called  to  con- 

^'^'^  Moniteur,  1790,  911.     Archives,  xix.,  551. 

^^^  Garran,  i.,  192. 

^'^  This  term  is  used  in  several  letters  at  this  time.     Garran,  i.,  196. 

^^'*  Garran,  i.,  194. 

'^^^  Moniteur,  1790,  929.     Letters  from  San  Domingo,  23  June. 

^^^  Moniteur,  1790,  877. 

5"  Ibid,  1790,  903. 

^^*  Ibid.     Same  page  as  last  reference  and  911. 


64  The  Early  Days  of  the  General  Assembly. 

sider  the  continuance  of  the  existing  legislature,  and  in  va- 
rious ways  is  charged  with  having  attempted  to  influence  the 
people  into  making  a  favorable  decision  upon  its  policy  and 
acts.'"  The  opposition  to  the  General  Assembly  was  least 
in  the  West  and  greatest  in  the  North.  This  body  passed 
various  measures  directed  against  the  provincial  legislatures 
and  the  governor.  It  declared  the  Superior  Council  at  the 
Cape  dissolved  and  ordered  d'  Og^,  commandant  for  the  king 
at  Jacmel,  to  appear  at  its  bar.""  A  motion  for  non-inter- 
course with  the  Assembly  of  the  North  was  made  but  not 
put  to  vote.*^^^ 

Finally  it  was  decided  to  send  commissioners  to  the  Cape, 
nominally  to  attempt  to  bring  about  a  reconciliation  between 
the  two  bodies.  Valentin  de  CuUion  was  chief  of  the  four 
commissioners  sent.  The  real  significance  of  this  visit  will 
be  perceived  only  when  it  is  known  that  the  municipal  gov- 
ernment of  Cap  Frangais  was  very  hostile  to  the  Assembly 
of  the  North  and  supported  the  General  Assembly.  The 
commissioners  endeavored  to  arouse  the  municipal  govern- 
ment to  the  destruction  of  its  rival  and  by  their  inflamatory 
speeches  excited  the  people.  On  one  day  such  tumult  was 
raised  that  the  provincial  assembly  was  driven  from  its  hall 
but  on  the  next  it  ordered  the  commissioners  out  of  the 
province,  and  when  they  appealed  to  the  municipality,  drove 
them  out,  with  the  assistance  of  troops  and  citizens.^"^^  This 
embassy,  then,  had  merely  resulted  in  increasing  ill-feeling. 

During  June  the  voting  of  the  parishes  upon  the  question 
of  the  renewal  of  the  General  Assembly  occupied  the  at- 
tention of  all ;  but  the  rival  legislatures  found  a  little  time 
to  fulminate  against  each  other.  Each  ordered  the  people 
not  to  execute  the  other's  decrees,  and  declared  the  other 
dissolved.  The  northern  body  threatened  to  send  to  France 
for  trial""  any  members  of  the  General  Assembly  caught  in 
the  province  and  the  Assembly  at  St.  Marc  ordered  two 
prominent  members  of  its  rival  to  be  sent  to  France  for 
trial.''" 

Upon  the  relations  of  the  governor,  Peinier,  to  the 
General  Assembly  at  this  time   light  is  thrown  by  his  let- 

219  Ibid,  923. 

*^^  Moniteur,  1 790,  1 1 79.     In  a  speech  of  Barnave,  11  Oct. 

2'^  Garran,  i.,  198. 

'22Garran,  i.,  199-203,  gives  a  full  account.  Dalmas,  i.,  53,  54-  Adresse 
deVAssembUe  Provinciale  de  la  Partie  du  Nordde  Saint-Domingueh  V  As- 
sembUe  Nationale,     (Paris,  1 790),  6,  7. 

^^^  MoniteuTy  1790,  1015. 

^^*  Mom^eur,  1790,  997. 


The  Early  Days  of  the  General  Assembly.  65 

ters.'"  He  wrote  (27  April)  that  he  wished  to  join  it  and 
be  one  of  the  citizens.  The  assembly  expressed  joy  at  his 
sentiments  and  asked  him  to  open  its  sessions.  He  con- 
sented and  expressed  a  desire  that  they  might  work  together 
along  the  lines  marked  out  by  the  National  Assembly.  On 
the  twenty-ninth  polite  letters  passed  between  them.  The 
early  acts  of  the  assembly  alarmed  the  governor,  for  only 
about  two  weeks  after  its  opening  session  (13  May)  he 
charged  them  with  illegal  assumption  of  power  in  summon- 
ing royal  officers  before  them  for  trial,"'  and  in  ordering  the 
intendant  to  come  to  St.  Marc.  The  Assembly  in  its  reply 
insisted  that  its  acts  and  commands  be  obeyed. 

The  governor's  reply  was  a  moderate,  creditable  letter 
defending  his  course  and  stating  his  position.  The  old  con- 
stitution was  in  force  until  a  new  one  should  be  adopted. 
He  was  willing  to  make  concessions  so  far  as  his  duty  to  the 
king  permitted  and  to  put  into  execution  such  acts  of  the 
assembly  as  seemed  to  him  proper. ^^^  The  assembly  insisted 
that  the  decree  in  regard  to  municipalities  be  put  into  execu- 
tion, but  the  governor  refused  and  reminded  it  that  it  had 
no  power  until  the  parishes  had  voted  to  confirm  and  con- 
tinue it."*  In  many  of  the  parishes  municipalities  were  in- 
stituted without  consent  of  the  governor. 

It  has  already  been  noticed  that  the  Act  of  17  May  passed 
by  the  Assembly  of  the  North,  revealed  more  friendly  feel- 
ing in  that  body  toward  the  governor  than  had  previously 
existed.  Letters  between  them  lead  to  a  definite  under- 
standing."* Cambefort  and  Mauduit,  two  officers  of  the 
royal  troops,  are  said  to  have  worked  with  much  zeal  to  se- 
cure this  result,  being  earnest  supporters  of  the  royal 
power.""  Henceforth  the  lines  were  more  definitely  drawn  ; 
the  government  officials,  the  Superior  Councils  and  the  As- 
sembly of  the  North  united  in  support  of  the  king  and 
National  Assembly,  in  opposition  to  the  General  Assembly 
supported  as  will  be  seen  by  the  greater  part  of  the  colony. 

'^*  Correspondence  de  M.  le  G^niral  avec^  V  Assemble  G^n/rale  de  la  Partie 
Fran^aise  de  Saint- Domingue,  etc.  (Bordeaux,  1790).  Suite  de  la  correspond- 
encede  monsieur  le  Gouverneur  G^niral,  etc. 

^■'^®^^r<fjj'<f,  cited  in  reference  192.  Campan,  captain  in  the  regiment  of 
Port-au-Prince,  had  been  ordered  to  appear  at  the  bar  of  the  house  for  dis- 
obedience. 

^^^  Correspondence  de  M,  le  G^niral^  etc.,  16.  On  pp.  17-22  is  found  an  ex- 
tract from  the  minutes  of  the  Assembly  of  the  South  to  the  effect  that  the 
parishes  had  renounced  its  legislative  authority. 

22»Garran,  i.,  208. 

^"^"^  Suite  de  la  Correspondence  de  Monsieur^  le  Gouveneur  Gineral^  etc. 

'^^'Dalmas,  i.,44. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  RATIFICATION  AND  DISSOLUTION  OF  THE  GENERAL 
ASSEMBLY. 

The  voting  upon  the  question  whether  the  General  As- 
sembly should  be  continued  or  a  new  one  called,  continued 
through  June  and  was,  as  a  general  thing,  orderly.'^^'  It  was 
claimed  that  the  election  in  Port-au-Prince  was  fraudulent, 
and  some  protests  were  made.^^^  However  the  city  voted 
for  renewal  by  486  to  84.^^^  The  members  of  the  assembly 
exerted  themselves  to  the  utmost  to  secure  the  perpetuation 
of  this  body.  They  issued  addresses  to  show  that  they 
were  in  harmony  with  the  National  Assembly.^^  Much  in- 
terest was  felt  in  France  in  regard  to  this  struggle. 

The  General  Assembly  won  against  the  combined  strength 
of  its  adversaries.  Its  policy  was  popular  with  the  classes 
who  had  suffrage.  In  the  South  and  West  all  but  three 
parishes  were  said  to  have  voted  for  renewaP^^  and  in  Cayes 
the  vote  was  unanimous,  although  one  twentieth  of  the  voters 
would  have  added  the  condition  that  the  colonial  legislature 
be  required  to  conform  to  the  decrees  of  the  National  As- 
sembly.^^'  The  total  results  are  somewhat  differently  given 
by  different  authorities,  but  the  following  is  perhaps  as  free 
from  bias  as  any  of  the  estimates.  Of  the  fifty-two  parishes, 
twenty  with  seventy-three  deputies  voted  for  unconditional 
renewal  ;  seven,  with  seventeen  deputies  voted  for  renewal 
on  condition  that  the  assembly  conform  to  the  decrees  of 
the  National  Assembly ;  thirteen,  with  forty-eight  votes 
voted  for  a  new  assembly,  and  the  remainder  did  not  vote.^^' 
Barnave  gave  different  figures  and  claimed  that  the  result 
was   greatly   misinterpreted   and   twisted.^^^     Others   made 

28^  Moniteur,  17QO,  977, 

^^^Ibid,  1790,  923  ;  Garran,  i.,  212. 

^^^  Moniteury  1790,  977  ;  Adresse  cited  in  reference  192,  13.  It  is  claimed 
that  this  result  was  obtained  by  fraud. 

23*  Garran,  i.,  213,  214  ;  Adresse  cited  in  reference  192,  12,  13  ;  Moniteur, 
1790,  923.     This  is  very  full. 

^^^  Moniteur^  1790,977. 

236  xhe  same  as  last  reference. 

'^^'^  Moniteur,  1790.  IC35.  The  MoniteurvidiSt  oi  course,  opposed  to  the 
General  Assembly,  so  probably  did  not  err  in  its  favor. 

2'8Ibid,  1790,  1185  ;  Archives,  xix,,  552. 


Ratification  and  Dissolution,  6y 

similar  charges.'^'  But  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  colony 
supported  the  General  Assembly  and  no  explanation  alters 
the  simple  fact  that  a  majority  of  those  allowed  to  vote  fa- 
vored the  stand  which  the  representatives  at  St.  Marc  had 
taken. 

The  Instructions  provided  that  the  governor  should  tabu- 
late the  returns  and  announce  the  result ;  but,  without  this 
formality,  the  General  Assembly,  6  July,  in  a  decree  full  of 
contempt  for  the  National  Assembly  declared  its  continua- 
tion by  a  vote  of  thirty  for  dissolution,  fifteen  for  condi- 
tional confirmation,  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  for  uncon- 
ditional confirmation  and  thirty-three  not  voting.^'"'  It  at- 
tacked la  Luzerne  and  ordered  a  public  celebration  for  the 
Fourteenth  of  July.'^''^  It  ordered  the  troops  to  take  an  oath 
of  fidelity  to  itself  and  transmitted  this  decree  to  the 
governor  indirectly  through  the  Committee  of  the  West. 
Peinier  refused  to  publish  it,  saying  there  should  be  no  inter- 
mediary between  the  representative  of  the  king  and  the 
General  Assembly  and  that  the  latter  had  no  right,  as  yet, 
to  make  laws  for  the  colony. '^''^  The  response  of  the  assem- 
bly was  a  fierce  denunciation  of  Peinier,  which  was  printed 
and  scattered  through  the  colony  although  not  formally 
passed.'^' 

On  the  thirteenth  of  July  Peinier  formally  declared  the 
vote  and  proclaimed  the  assembly  renewed.^"^ 

Besides  the  royal  troops  there  were  in  the  colony  many 
volunteers.  As  they  were  composed  of  inhabitants  it  might 
have  been  supposed  that  they  would  adhere  to  the  Colonial 
Assembly  after  the  ratification.  But  many  of  the  soldiers 
were  Petits-Blancs  and  hostile  to  the  planters.  Certain  it  is 
that  the  attempt  to  administer  the  new  oath  of  fidelity  to 
**  the  nation,  the  law,  the  king  and  the  French  part  of  San 
Domingo  "  was  not  in  all  cases  a  success.  On  the  occasion 
of  the  great  celebration  on  the  Fourteenth  of  July  the 
volunteers  at  St.  Marc,  center  of  the  power  of  the  assem- 
bly,   refused  to  take   the  oath  at  the  command  of  de  la 

*^®  Adresse  cited  in  reference  192,  13. 

^*^  Archives ^yix^s.,  552, 

^^  Garran,  i.,  216-218. 

^*'^  Archives,  xix.,  553. 

^^43  Garran,  i.,  220,  221. 

'^'^  Archives ,  xix.,  552.  His  announcement  of  the  result  was  substantially 
that  already  given  from  the  Moniteur.  As  the  answers  returned  were  not 
simply  "yes"  or  "no"  but  were  variously  qualified  and  conditioned, 
there  was  a  chance  for  difference  of  interpretation.  This  accounts  for  the 
discrepancies  in  the  statements  of  the  result. 


68  The  Ratification  and  Dissolution 

Chevalarie.  They  shouted  '*  Vive  le  Roi  et  T  Assembly  Na- 
tionale  !"  and  declared  San  Domingo  to  be  forever  insepar- 
able from  the  mother  country. ^^°  The  writer  of  this  account 
thought  their  action  very  significant  and  said  that  the  volun- 
teer troops  of  St.  Marc,  Port-au-Prince  and  the  Cape  were 
in  regular  correspondence.  In  his  opinion  the  union  of  the 
troops  would  prevent  the  evils  threatening  the  colony 
through  the  General  Assembly.  The  troops  at  Port-au- 
Prince  supported  the  governor^^*  as  did  the  various  volun- 
teer organizations  of  the  North.  The  people  of  the  Cape 
had  dissolved  the  municipal  government  which  had  been 
such  a  tool  of  the  General  Assembly.  The  people  of  that 
city  would  not  listen  to  a  decree  from  the  General  Assem- 
bly in  regard  to  the  matter.^'''  In  the  cities  there  were  many 
opponents  of  the  General  Assembly ;  the  Pe tit s-B lanes,  the 
merchants,  the  lawyers  had  different  interests  from  those  of 
the  planters.  '^^'^ 

The  triumphantVatification  of  the  legislature  at  St.  Marc 
was  not  followed  by  the  success  one  might  expect.  In  its 
early  days  it  contended  with  the  Assembly  of  the  North, 
but  then  the  governor  was  favorable.  Now  the  officials,  the 
Assembly  at  the  Cape  and  the  volunteers,  or  part  of  them, 
were  united  against  it.  The  Governor  could  do  nothing 
but  oppose  it.  There  chanced  to  be  in  the  island  a 
man  well  fitted  to  act  as  Peinier's  chief  adviser,  the 
chevalier  Mauduit  Duplessis,  colonel  of  the  regiment  of 
Port-au-Prince  and  commandant  of  the  city.  He  had  served 
in  the  American  war  and  won  praise  from  Washington.  He 
was  devotedly  attached  to  the  king  and  bitterly  opposed  to 
the  Revolution.  He  had  recently  been  with  the  Count  d' 
Artois.  The  soldiers  were  warmly-attached  to  him  although 
he  was  a  stern  disciplinarian. 

The  Pompons-B lanes  still  existed  as  an  organization  de- 
voted to  the  old  regime.  The  Committee  of  the  West  is- 
sued an  order  dissolving  it,  but  de  Peinier  then  interfered 
and  protected  it.^"*^  The  General  Assembly  then  passed  an 
act  forbiding  the  existence  of  all  corporations  other  than 
those  permitted  by  the  French  constitution.^^"  In  spite  of 
i 

***  Moniteur,  1790,  1035. 

'^^^  Moniieur,  1790,  1035,  1039. 

'^^''  Moniteur,  I790, 1052. 

2^8  Per  contra  see  Relation  Atithentique,  etc.,  cited  in  reference  152,  pp. 
11-13,  where  is  given  a  proclamation  of  the  commune  of  Petit  Goa  against 
Peinier. 

"^^  Moniteur,  1790,  1039. 

"^^^  Archives,  xix.,  553,  554. 


of  the  General  Assembly.  69 

its  claim  to  supremacy  in  internal  affairs,  it  now  appeals  to 
the  French  constitution  in  regard  to  a  purely  local  matter. 
Garran  points  to  this  as  one  piece  of  testimony  to  the  weak 
and  undecided  course  henceforth  pursued  by  the  assembly. 
It  published  addresses  at  this  time  showing  the  same  lack  of 
confidence.^^^  Here  we  have  another  illustration  of  the 
principle  that  in  a  contest  between  a  legislative  body  trying 
to  wield  executive  power  as  well,  and  a  well  constituted  ex- 
ecutive, the  latter  will  have  the  advantage.  In  San  Domin- 
go the  struggle  was  very  short. 

The  Assembly  issued  some  decrees  after  this  but  they 
were  of  little  effect.  It  ordered  the  intendant  to  turn  over 
to  its  treasury  200,000  livres  a  month  to  be  used  in  paying 
its  members  ;  but  he  declared  this  impossible.'^^^  They  could 
not  execute  their  decrees.^^^ 

Perceiving  the  weakness  of  the  General  Assembly,  its  ene- 
mies now  began  to  take  active  measures  against  it.  The 
Superior  Council  of  Port-au-Prince  investigated  the  murder 
of  Ferraud-de-Beaudi^res  and  other  similar  crimes.  The 
tribunals  in  the  North  brought  charges  against  Bacon  de  la 
Chevalarie.^^'*  The  General  Assembly  ordered  these  judicial 
proceedings  to  be  relinquished  since  they  were  not  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  decrees  of  the  National  Assembly.^"  It 
ordered  the  governor  to  come  to  St.  Marc,  with  his  officials 
and  records.^^^  He,  of  course,  refused.  The  commissioners 
from  St.  Marc  who  brought  this  order  were  received  coldly 
with  great  display  of  power.  They  reported  that  the  bar- 
racks of  the  royal  troops  were  being  fortified  and  that  force 
was  apparently  to  be  used.^"  The  attendance  upon  the  As- 
sembly began  to  decrease  rapidly  from  resignations  and 
absences. 

In  the  early  summer  there  had  been  great  scarcity  of 
bread-stuffs.^^^  On  the  17  July  the  Assembly  passed  a  law 
providing  that  all  ports  should  enjoy  the  same  privileges 
then  accorded  to  the  Cape,  Port-au-Paix  and  Cayes,  namely, 
the  free  importation  of  provisions  and  articles  of  prime  ne- 
cessity. Both  the  governor  and  the  Assembly  of  the  North 
denied  that  there  was  necessity  for  any  such   action,  the 

^^' Garran,  i.,  229,  230. 

'"  Adresse  cited  in  reference  192,  17. 

5^^  Garran,  i.,  231. 

554  Ibid,  i.,  232,  233. 

"5  Ibid,  i.,  233. 

^^^  Moniteur,  I790,?[i039. 

'"Garran,  i.,  237. 

^^^  Monifeur,  I790,[889. 


70  The  Ratification  and  Dissolution 

scarcity  having  been  relieved."'  The  former  refused  to  ap- 
prove of  the  bill.  On  the  25th  July  the  Assembly  passed 
a  second  decree  providing  that  ships  bringing  provisions 
might  take  away  in  payment  the  products  of  the  island,  and 
that  the  municipalities  should  have  charge  of  the  execution 
of  the  law.  This  would  have  introduced  the  greatest  possi- 
ble freedom  of  trade.^^"  The  passage  of  these  permanent 
laws  without  the  approval  of  the  governor  was  entirely  con- 
trary to  the  Instructions  of  March  twenty-eighth.^" 

In  San  Domingo  the  old  royal  troops  still  remained  under 
the  control  of  the  king's  representative.  The  General  As- 
sembly now  followed  the  example  of  the  National  Assem- 
bly in  an  attempt  to  gain  over  and  reorganize  the  regular 
troops.  After  preliminary  acts  confiscating  powder  maga- 
zines and  munitions  of  war,  it  passed,  27  July,  a  law  declar- 
ing the  troops  of  the  line  disbanded  and  establishing  in 
their  place  Gardes  Nationales  Sold^es  de  la  Partie  Frangaise 
de  Saint-Dorningue.  Officers  and  privates  of  the  old  organi- 
zations could  enter  the  new  by  taking  an  oath  of  fidelity  to 
the  French  part  of  San  Domingo.  Heavy  bounties  were 
promised  and  those  who  did  not  care  to  serve  in  the  new 
regiments  were  promised  transportation  to  France.  The 
municipalities  were  to  execute  this  law.^^'^  The  troops  at 
St.  Marc  accepted  this  arrangement,  but  elsewhere  the 
troops  remained  true  to  their  officers. ^*^ 

The  royal  officers  now  determined  to  dissolve  the  Assem- 
bly at  St.  Marc  by  using  the  troops  at  Port-au-Prince  and 
the  crews  of  the  men-of-war  in  the  harbor,  the  Leopard, 
ship-of-the-line,  and  /'  Engageante,  frigate.  The  crew  of  the 
Leopard,  however,  was  very  favorably  disposed  toward  the 
General  Assembly  and  looked  upon  the  ship's  officers  as  up- 
holders of  the  old  regime.  Becoming  aware  of  the  disposi- 
tion of  the  crew,  Peinier  and  the  Marquis  de  la  Galis- 
soni^re,  commander  of  the  naval  forces,  decided  that  the 
vessels  should  be  removed  from  the  vicinity. *^^''  Learning  of 
this  the  General  Assembly  ordered  them  not  to  leave  the 
harbor  of  Port-au-Prince.'^*'^  The  crew,  hearing  of  this,  re- 
fused to  obey  orders.  La  Galisso.nier  and  some  of  his  offi- 
cers left  the  ship,  and  when  they  refused  to  return,  at  the 

'^*  Ibid,  1790,  1277. 

^'^  Archives,  xix.,  555,  556.     Text  of  the  act  is  given. 

'^^^  Garran,  i. ,  240-243. 

^^'^  Archives,  xix.,  556,  557.     Text  of  the  act. 

^^^3  Garran,  i.,  248. 

^^^  Adresse^  cited  reference  192,  21,  22. 

'^^^  Archives,  xix.,  557,558. 


of  the  General  Assembly,  7^ 

dictation  of  the  crew,  the  sailors  made  Santo  Domingo,  a 
lieutenant  of  the  ship  and  Creole  proprietor  in  the  colony, 
commander.*^*®  The  vessel  soon  sailed  to  St.  Marc  and  was 
there  received  with  most  extravagant  expressions  of  joy, 
being  christened  Sauveur  des  Franqais^^'^ 

On  the  day  after  the  meeting  the  governor  issued  a  proc- 
lamation arraigning  the  General  Assembly  for  its  long-con- 
tinued acts  of  rebellion  ;  declaring  it  had  allowed  "  formal 
motions  of  independence  "  to  be  made  in  its  interest,  and 
that  independence  was  the  end  toward  which  it  had  been 
constantly  working.  He  pronounced  its  members  traitors 
and  declared  his  intention  of  dissolving  it  by  force.^^^ 

The  Committee  of  the  West  with  headquarters  at  Port- 
au-Prince  was  the  most  active  assistant  of  the  General  As- 
sembly. The  Governor  and  Mauduit  determined  to  arrest 
its  members,  who  had  fortified  their  place  of  meeting  with 
artillery  and  collected  an  armed  force  of  several  hundred.^*^® 
In  the  early  morning  hours  of  30  July  the  plan  arranged  the 
day  before  was  put  into  execution.  Quite  a  skirmish  took 
place  but  the  forces  of  the  committee  were  defeated  and 
one  of  the  committee  captured.  The  others  had  taken 
refuge  elsewhere.  Mauduit  was  charged  with  having  trailed 
in  the  dust  the  flags  of  Port-au-Prince  "  in  a  manner  insult- 
ing to  the  Nation  whose  colors  they  bore."""  This  act  was 
made  much  of  later. 

While  the  Assembly  of  the  North  refused  to  recognize 
the  authority  of  the  General  Assembly  even  after  the  vote 
of  renewal,*^"  it  had  come  to  an  agreement  with  Cambefort, 
commander  of  the  regiment  of  the  Cape.  They  had  sworn 
to  work  together  against  the  enemies  of  the  nation.  On 
the  30  July  before  news  of  the  governor's  proclamation  had 

^**  Relation  Authentique,  15-19.  Conduite  de  M.  Santo- Domingue,  com- 
mandant le  vaisseau  le  L/opard^  lue par  lui-meme  h  /'  Assemble  Nationale  le  7 
Octobre,  lygo.     (Paris?  1790?) 

^^"^ Relation  Authentique,  41,  42.     Garran,  i.,  253-255. 

^^^ Moniteur,  1790,  1065.  Archives,  xix.,  559,  560 ;  also  Peinier's  ac- 
count, Monlteur,  1790,  1277. 

'^^^  There  are  several  accounts  of  this  affair,  agreeing  substantially.  -<4r- 
Mez/<fj',  xix.,  660 ;  Monitenr.  1790,  1065;  Adresse,  cited  in  reference  192, 
22-25  ,  Garran,  i.,  248-250;  Relation  Authentique,  20-25.  The  latter  is  fa- 
vorable to  the  adherents  of  the  committee.  The  account  to  a  friend  written 
by  Coustard,  second  in  command  in  the  colony  and  an  intimate  friend  of 
Peinier  is  interesting  and  gives  facts  not  in  other  accounts.  It  was 
printed  in  Nouvelles  de  Saint- Domingue,  No.  14,  1-4.  This  letter  was  dated 
30  July.  Maudit  told  Coustard  the  details  of  whicli  he  was  not  personally 
aware. 

'^'f  Garran,  i.,  251. 

«"Ibid,  i.,  257. 


72  The  Ratification  and  Dissolution 

arrived,  the  Assembly  of  the  North  called  upon  Peinier 
to  dissolve  the  Assembly  at  St.  Marc  and  to  call  a  new 
colonial  assembly  according  to  the  Instructions.  It  sent  a 
body  of  troops  under  Vincent  to  assist  him,  or,  in  case  he 
did  not  see  fit  to  proceed  against  their  rivals,  to  seize  the 
deputies  from  the  North  with  all  the  papers  and  minutes 
and  bring  them  to  the  Cape."^ 

When  the  news  of  the  attack  on  the  Committee  of  the 
West  and  of  Peinier's  proclamation  reached  St.  Marc,  31 
July,  there  was  great  excitement.  The  Assembly  deposed 
and  proscribed  the  royal  officials  and  appointed  M.  de  Fier- 
ville,  commandant  at  Cayes,  governor.^"  Active  measures 
were  at  once  taken  to  fortify  St.  Marc.  A  number  of 
parishes  sent  detachments  of  soldiers  or  promises  of  assist- 
ance in  the  first  days  of  August,  and  among  these  were 
some  from  the  Province  of  the  North."*  The  municipalities 
of  some  of  the  larger  places  approved  the  governor's 
policy."' 

The  General  Assembly  issued  an  appeal  to  arms  written 
in  the  exclamatory  style  of  the  period."®  At  a  later  time, 
however,  it  pretended  to  have  been  very  unwilling  to  begin 
war,  and  in  its  Relation  Authentique  no  mention  is  made  of 
its  proclamation.  It  passed  some  very  absurd  decrees  and 
wrote  to  the  colonial  committee  inveighing  bitterly  against 
its  enemies.  A  sentence  in  their  letter  indicates  that  it  had 
thought  of  a  journey  to  France  as  a  last  resort."^ 

Although  at  Port-au-Prince  all  possible  measures  were 
taken  to  destroy  the  influence  of  the  dissolved  Committee 
of  the  West,  Mauduit  avoided  the  shedding  of  blood.  By 
a  court  martial  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  soldiers  of 
the  regiment  of  Portau-Prince,  who  at  St.  Marc  had  joined 
the  forces  of  the  Assembly,  were  condemned  to  death,  but 
the  sentence  was  never  carried  out. 


^'^  Archive^,  xix.,  562-564. 

^'^  Ibid,  561,  562.  Relation  Authentique,  2(^-2,1.  Garran,  i.,  263.  Adresse, 
cited  in  reference  192,  29-32.  Fierville  had  betrayed  to  the  General  Assem- 
bly letters  from  la  Luzerne. 

^"^^  Relation  Authentique,  36,41,  43.  This  ex  parte  statement  alleges  that 
the  Assembly  of  the  North  contained  only  representatives  from  the  Cape 
and  four  or  five  other  parishes  in  the  province,  and  that  the  other  twenty 
parishes  supported  the  General  Assembly.  It  is  certain  that  not  all  the 
parishes  in  the  North  were  in  sympathy  with  the  body  at  the  Cape. 

^"^^ Relation  Authentique,  Sg-J^'  A dresse^  cited  in  reference  192,  32-34, 
39-43. 

^''^  Adresse,  cited  in  reference  192,  27,  28  ;  Garran,  i.,  264.  Archives,  xix., 
561. 

'"Garran,  i.,  265,266. 


of  the  General  Assembly.  73 

The  army  from  the  Cape,  under  Vincent,  landed  at  Gon- 
aives.  The  Assembly  at  St.  Marc,  thus  situated  between 
the  armies  of  Vincent  and  Mauduit,  was  in  a  dangerous  po- 
sition. Attempts  to  reach  an  understanding  with  Vincent 
were  unsuccessful.^^^  Later  the  Assembly  maintained  that 
their  position  had  been  impregnable  and  that  the  course  of 
action  they  pursued  was  dictated  by  a  desire  to  save  further 
bloodshed.  But  their  decrees  of  the  time  show  no  such  hu- 
mane feelings.^'''  The  merchants  and  many  other  citizens  of 
St.  Marc  were  in  harmony  with  the  Assembly  of  the  North. 
An  agent  of  the  Club  Massiac  wrote  that  the  city  was  well 
fortified  but  that  "  it  was  to  be  wished  that  it  had  been  as 
sure  of  its  internal  safety.  It  is  estimated  that  it  had  more 
enemies  inside  than  without."^^^ 

Decreased  in  number  from  two  hundred  and  twelve  to 
eighty-five,  surrounded  by  enemies  within  and  without  the 
city,  the  General  Assembly  decided  to  appeal  to  the  Na- 
tional Assembly.  A  profound  admiration  is  said  to  have 
taken  possession  of  the  citizens  upon  hearing  of  this  deci- 
sion, but  they  sent  to  Vincent  a  letter  requesting  him  not  to 
march  against  the  city.  They  protested  their  devotion  to 
the  General  Assembly .^^*  On  the  afternoon  of  the  eighth 
of  August  the  deputies  met  in  their  old  hall  for  a  last  ses- 
sion before  embarking.  Their  families  filled  the  seats  re- 
served for  substitutes ;  the  streets  were  crowded  with  citi- 
zens, some  filled  with  despair  and  fear,  others  with  joy. 
Amidst  long  lines  of  troops  with  cries  of  Vive  la  Nation  ! 
Vive  la  Roi  !  Vive  V  Assembl^e  G^ndrale  they  marched  to  the 
shore  and  embarked  on  the  Leopard.  On  the  next  day  a 
session  was  held  on  ship  board,  addresses  to  the  parishes 
were  voted  and  a  general  proclamation  declaring  the  reasons 
for  the  action  of  the  Assembly  and  its  devotion  to  the  Na- 
tional Assembly  was  issued.^^^  In  the  evening  at  eight  hav- 
ing taken  on  board  the  archives,  the  soldiers  of  the  Na- 
tional Guard  who  had  deserted  from  the  troops-of-the-line 
and  a  few  of  their  most  pronounced  adherents,  they  set  sail 
for  France.^^^ 

^"^^  Relation  Authentique,  45-48. 

2^9  Ibid,  48-54.     Garran,  i.,  265,  266. 

280Garran,  i.,  268. 

^^^  The  Municipality  wrote  Vincent  that  they  were  faithful  to  the  General 
Assembly.  D^piches  arrivdes  de  Saint- Domingue,  le  2g  Septembre,  lygo,  h  V 
adresse  de  V  AssembUe  Gdn&ale  de  la  Partie  Fran^aise  de  Saint- Domingue  A 
Paris.     (Paris  (?)  1790?) 

^^2  Dicret  de  V  Asse?nblie  Gdndrale  de  la  Partie  Fran^aise  de  Saint- D omingue ^ 
rendu  h  V  unanimity  en  sa  sdance  du  28  Mai,  i^go,  15-26  ;  Archives,  xix., 
564-566. 

*88  Relation  Authentique^  57-59. 


284 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE   GENERAL  ASSEMBLY  IN  FRANCE. 

"A  courier  officially  come  from  Brest,  the  seventeenth  of 
this  month,  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  informs  us 
that  the  vessel  the  Leopard  entered  that  port  the  fourteenth, 
having  on  board  eighty  members  of  the  General  Assembly 
of  San  Domingo,  who  embarked  on  her  at  St.  Marc,  the 
eighth  of  August,  after  the  mustering  of  the  troops-of-the- 
line  and  of  the  colonial  volunteers,  who  marched  under  M 
de  Peinier,  to  dissolve  the  Assembly."  Thus  the  Moniteur 
announced  on  the  nineteenth  of  September,  the  arrival  of 
the  San  Domingans.  On  the  same  day  a  similar  announce- 
ment was  made  in  the  National  Assembly,  with  the  state- 
ment that  the  municipality  of  Brest  had  delayed  the  de- 
parture of  a  ship  about  to  sail  for  the  West  Indies  until 
further  advices  were  received  from  the  Assembly.^^^ 

The  municipality  of  Brest  gave  the  General  Assembly  a 
warm  reception.  A  military  procession,  visits  of  deputations 
from  learned  societies,  entertainment  at  private  houses,  the 
freedom  of  the  theatres,  enthusiastic  applause  aroused  the 
hopes  of  the  delegates.  "  I  cannot  recount  to  you  all  the 
evidences  of  affection  which  the  city  of  Brest  has  given  the 
colonists  "  wrote  one  of  their  number  in  a  letter  published 
in  the  Moniteur ^^^  The  comment  of  the  Moniteur  is  sig- 
nificant :  "  Their  letter  does  not  tell  how  this  indiscreet  en- 
thusiasm has  changed  into  disorder  and  insurrection.  The 
landing  from  the  Leopard  is  painted  only  in  profile  ;  but  the 
other  face  is  only  too  well  known."  This  allusion  is  to  a 
serious  mutiny  that  broke  out  in  the  fleet  at  Brest,  and  for 
which  the  Eighty-five  have  generally  been  held  responsible. 
From  the  papers  presented  to  the  National  Assembly  by  la 
Luzerne,  however,  it  appears  that  there  had  been  much  dis- 
content among  the  sailors  at  Brest  for  two  weeks  before  the 
arrival  of  the  Leopard,  on  account  of  a  new  penal  code  gov- 
erning discipline  and  because  of  alleged  irregularities  in 
pay:^^'  The  arrival  of  the  General  Assembly  with  the  news 
of  the  course  of  events  in  the  island,  including  the  revolt  of 

284 1790,  1083. 
885  Ibid,  1086. 
286  Ibid,  1 127. 
881  Ibid.  1790,  1063. 


The  General  Assembly  in  France.  75 

the  crew  of  the  Leopard,  gave  new  fuel  to  the  flames.  Diplo- 
mas and  medals  had  been  given  to  the  sailors  of  this  ship."' 
It  was  very  natural  that  the  crews  of  the  vessels  at  Brest 
about  to  sail  for  San  Domingo  should  look  upon  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  as  a  body  of  men  persecuted  by  the  privileged 
classes,  and  should  conclude  that  they  were  being  sent  to  the 
colony  to  uphold  officers  of  the  king.  It  is  probable  that 
the  General  Assembly  desired  to  do  all  possible  to  prevent 
the  sailing  of  vessels  carrying  reinforcements  to  Peinier 
and  that  they  instigated  the  municipality  of  Brest  to  detain 
them  f^  but  the  mere  narration  of  their  misfortunes  and  the 
account  given  by  the  sailors  recently  arrived  from  San  Do- 
mingo were  sufficient  to  excite  renewed  outbreaks  among 
the  turbulent  sailors.  The  members  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly would  hardly  have  been  so  foolish  as  to  prejudice  their 
cause  by  intentionally  causing  disturbances  in  the  fleet. 

On  the  twentieth  of  September  after  receiving  a  commu- 
nication from  la  Luzerne  charging  the  San  Domingans  with 
having  excited  the  revolt,  the  National  Assembly  passed  a 
decree  providing  for  punishment  of  the  mutineers,  the  dis- 
arming of  the  Leopard,  the  discharge  of  her  crew  and  the 
removal  from  Brest  immediately  of  the  members  of  the 
regiment  of  Port-au-Prince.  It  ordered  the  General  As- 
sembly to  report  at  Paris  at  once.  In  the  debate  Barnave 
expressed  himself  strongly  against  the  colonial  assembly.  ^'° 

On  the  twentieth  of  September  the  Eighty-five  held  a 
public  meeting  at  Brest  which  adjourned  to  meet  in  Paris 
the  fifth  of  October.  On  the  way  som(*  visited  Nantes  and 
other  commercial  cities  to  obtain  money  from  their  corres- 
pondents and  to  arouse  public  opinion  in  their  favor.^"  The 
commercial  cities  had  been  very  friendly  to  the  planters  in 
the  early  days,^*^  but  now  the  latter  met  everywhere  a  cool 
reception.^'^  Those  who  visited  Nantes  were  ordered  to 
depart  within  twenty-four  hours.  The  belief  that  the 
colonial  assembly  plotted  independence  was  the  reason  for 
this  changed  attitude.  The  island  was  said  to  be  indebted 
to  the  mei  chants  of  France  to  the  amount  of   68,000,000 

•i88jbid,  1790,  1154. 

'^^^  Garran  tries  to  show,!.,  284,  that  the  General  Assembly  arrived  at 
Brest  before  the  first  trouble  in  the  fleet  and  that  it  was  responsible  for  the 
outbreak.  But  the  official  reports  of  la  Luzerne  cited  above  show  that  the 
mutiny  broke  out  on  the  sixth  and  that  the  colonists  did  not  arrive  until 
the  fourteenth.     He  does  the  General  Assembly  an  injustice. 

290  Moniteur,  1790,  1093,  1096,  IO97. 

291  Ibid,  1127. 
2»2  Ibid,  709. 
«»«Garran,  i.,286. 


7^  The  General  Assembly  in  France, 

livres,  and  the  Planters  were  charged  with  plotting  revolt  in 
order  to  escape  payment.^^'^  There  was  also  a  rumor  that 
the  colonists  wished  to  sell  the  island  to  the  English  for 
forty  million  livres.^^^ 

The  opponents  of  the  General  Assembly  were  everywhere 
in  great  favor  in  France.  The  assembly  of  the  North,  Port- 
au-Prince  and  Croix-des-Bouquets  sent  commissioners  to 
the  National  Assembly  to  justify  their  course.^^^  They 
were  everywhere  received  with  honor.^" 

On  the  thirtieth  of  September  the  representatives  of  the 
two  cities  of  San  Damingo  above  named  appeared  before 
the  National  Assembly  and  defended  the  actions  of  the  op- 
ponents of  the  General  Assembly.^^^  The  members  of  this 
body  were  not  able  to  appear  on  that  date^®^  but  on  the 
second  of  October  the  Eighty-five  came  before  the  National 
Assembly  and  through  Valentin  de  Cullion  as  spokesman 
defended  themselves  from  the  charges  against  them.  He 
insisted  that  the  General  Assembly  represented  the  Planters 
who  were  the  permanent  population  of  the  colony  while 
the  opposition  was  made  up  of  merchants  and  lawyers 
temporarily  in  the  island  ;  that  the  General  Assembly  had 
accepted  the  decrees  of  the  eighth  of  March  and  of  the 
twenty-eighth  of  the  same  month ;  that  the  decree  of  the 
twenty-eighth  recognized  the  fact  that  the  colony  needed 
laws  different  from  those  of  France  ;  that  the  members  of 
the  General  Assembly  were  the  real  representatives  of  the 
colony  which  had  ratified  its  acts ;  and  that  all  the  acts 
this  body  had  passed  were  conformable  to  the  decrees  of 
the  National  Assembly.""  He  avoids  mention  of  those 
acts  which  were  most  reprehensible  and  the  speech  sounds 
like  an  excuse  of  those  trying  to  twist  their  actions  to  suit 
the  laws  rather  than  the  statement  of  men  confident  of  the 
righteousness  of  their  cause. 

On  the  eleventh  of  October,  Barnave,  chairman  of  the 
colonial  committee,  began  his  report  on  the  troubles  in  San 
Domingo.  His  speech  was  completed  and  final  action 
taken  on  the  next  day.  He  praised  de  Peinier,  Mauduit 
and  the  Assembly  of  the  North.  He  declared  that  from 
the  time  of  its   formation  the  Assembly  of  St.  Marc  had 

2'^  Moniteur,  1790,  1053. 
296  Placide- Justin,  189. 

^^^  Lettre  des  membres  de  V  AssembUe  Provinciale  du  Nord  de  St.  Domingue 
h  V  Assembl^e  Nationale,  (Paris,  1790)  ;  Adresse  cited  in  reference  192,  39-48. 
29^  Garran,  i.,  287. 

298  Archives,  xix.,  324-336.     Printed  separately  ;  see  reference  192. 

299  Archives,  xix.,  322. 

800  Ibid,  xix.,  422-424  ;  printed   separately  as  the  Discours  pronoric^e  h  V 
Assemble  Gdn^rale  de  la  Partie  Frangaise  de  Saint- Domingue.    (Paris,  1790?). 


The  General  Assembly  in  France,  77 

usurped  legislative  and  executive  power ;  had  accepted  the 
acts  of  the  National  Assembly  only  provisionally ;  had,  28 
May,  passed  an  act  excluding  the  National  Assembly  from 
the  regulation  of  the  internal  affairs  of  the  colony  and 
reducing  the  connection  of  the  metropolis  and  the  colony 
to  a  simple  treaty  of  commerce  ;  had  put  this  act  into  exe- 
cution at  once,  although  it  now  denied  this ;  had  acted 
illegally  and  without  reason  in  opening  the  ports,  in  reor- 
ganizing the  troops,  in  seducing  the  crew  of  the  Leopard, 
and  in  opposing  the  Governor.^"  The  decree  proposed 
by  the  committee  declared  that  the  Colonial  Assembly  had 
violated  the  laws  of  the  realm  ;  and  it  reiterated  the  princi- 
ples of  the  acts  of  March  eighth  and  March  twenty-eighth. 
It  nullified  the  acts  of  the  Colonial  Assembly,  deposed  it, 
praised  its  opponents,  approved  of  the  proceedings  of 
Peinier  and  the  other  officers,  asked  the  King  to  summon  a 
new  assembly  and  to  send  troops  to  support  the  Governor, 
and  ordered  the  members  of  the  Colonial  Assembly  to  wait 
the  further  pleasure  of  the  National  Assembly.  A  motion 
to  adjourn  was  rejected,  opportunity  for  discussion  refused 
and  the  decree  passed  *'  by  a  very  great  majority."^"^  It  is 
evident  that  the  Assembly  accepted  the  view  of  Barnave  as 
to  the  culpability  of  the  legislature  of  St.  Marc. 

It  was  alm^ost  universally  believed  at  the  time  that  the 
General  Assembly  had  intended  to  secure  independence.  It 
was  the  charge  made  against  it  in  the  colony,  and  this 
view  obtained  credence  in  France.  It  must  not  be  forgot- 
ten, however,  that  it  was  for  the  interest  of  the  enemies  of 
the  General  Assembly  to  make  such  accusations,  for  in  no 
way  could  they  more  easily  arouse  the  merchants,  the  gov- 
ernment, the  National  Assembly  and  every  patriotic  French- 
man to  crush  this  body.  That  there  were  some  in  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  and  among  its  adherents  who  desired  inde- 
pendence must  be  admitted.  Venault  de  Charmilly,  a  promi- 
nent member  from  the  beginning  to  the  end,  said  that  there 
was  talk  of  independence  among  a  small  number  of  the  in- 
habitants, and  among  others  of  placing  the  island  under  the 
power  of  Great  Britain.""'  Vicomte  Charles  Lameth,  as 
early  as  the  twentieth  of  August,  1789,  said  to  the  Club 
Massaic,  that,  if,  on  account  of  the  decrees  of  the  National 
Assembly,  the  colony  should  be  compelled  to  separate  itself, 
it  would  be  well  to  be  prepared.'"*  Even  here,  however, 
separation  is  looked  upon  as  an  evil  to  be  avoided. 

30>  Archives,  xix.,  566,  567. 

302  Ibid,   570. 

803  Lettre  h  M.  BryanJEdwards^  52. 

3o*Garran,  i.,  130. 


78  The  General  Assembly  in  France, 

Garran  says,  after  a  consideration  of  the  acts  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  *'  there  is  then  the  continual  exercise  of  the 
most  marked  characteristics  of  independence,  the  rejection 
of  the  constitutional  bases  prescribed  by  the  Assembly  to 
which  the  nation  had  entrusted  the  formation  of  a  constitu- 
tion for  all  the  Empire,  and  the  observation  only  of  forms 
which  the  colonial  assembly  had  itself  decreed."^"  His 
argument  is  that  there  were  but  two  courses  open  to  the 
General  Assembly,  either  entire  acquiescence  in  the  decrees 
of  the  National  Assembly  with  the  admission  that  the 
French  part  of  San  Domingo  was  a  subject  colony,  or  com- 
plete independence.  But  between  these  two  extremes  was 
another  course.  The  planters  recognized  the  sovereignty  of 
the  French  king  but  not  the  supremacy  of  the  French  peo- 
ple. They  claimed  that  as  a  matter  of  expediency  this  view 
was  the  one  best  suited  to  the  interest  of  France  and  of  San 
Domingo,  and  that  as  a  matter  of  history  this  was  the  real 
relation  of  the  two. 

Almost  from  the  first  the  deputies  from  San  Domingo  had 
been  instructed  to  act  as  commissioners  from  the  colony,  and 
to  avoid  any  admission  that  the  colony  was  a  part  of  France. 
Recognizing  the  power  of  the  king,  the  General  Assembly 
further  admitted  that  as  a  matter  of  fact  there  was  a  certain 
connection  between  France  and  San  Domingo.  It  provided 
that  its  decrees,  even  that  of  the  Twenty-eighth  of  May, 
should  be  submitted  to  the  National  Assembly  for  '*  accepta- 
tion "  and  admitted  that  in  external  affairs  the  voice  of  the 
mother  country  must  be  paramount,  although  demanding  a 
hearing  upon  these  matters.  The  circumstances  of  the 
colony  were  so  different  from  those  of  France  that  the  Na- 
tional Assembly  could  not  legislate  for  it  wisely,  a  point  that 
this  body  had  admitted  in  its  decrees.  In  short  it  seems 
certain  that  the  General  Assembly  desired  home  rule  simi- 
lar to  that  now  possessed  by  Canada  and  demanded  by  Ire- 
land. It  frequently  stated  that  the  relationship  existing  be- 
tween France  and  San  Domingo  should  be  similar  to  that 
then  existing  between  England  and  Ireland.  But  instead  of 
allowing  this  new  relation  to  be  established  regularly  and 
gradually,  it  interpreted  the  Decrees  of  March  eighth  and 
twenty-eighth  broadly,  and  acted  as  if  legislative  independ- 
ence had  been  granted  it.  The  National  Assembly  had  good 
reason  to  decide  as  it  did,  for  the  colonial  legislature  had  dis- 
regarded its  instructions  and  acted  upon  the  assumption  that 
legislative  independence  belonged  to  the  colony. 

»w  Ibid,  i.,  i8i,  182. 


I 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE    PEOPLE    OF    COLOR    BEFORE    THE    PASSAGE    OF    THE 
ACT  OF  THE    TWELFTH   OF  OCTOBER. 

The  decree  of  the  Twelfth  of  October  reiterated  the 
statement  of  the  National  Assembly  *'  that  no  laws  upon 
the  status  of  persons  could  be  decreed  for  the  colonies,  ex- 
cept upon  the  definite  formal  demand  of  their  colonial  as- 
semblies." The  people  of  color  were  not  to  be  regarded  as 
citizens  and  could  expect  concession  of  rights  from  the 
colonists  only.  The  rival  legislatures  in  the  colony  w^re 
perfectly  agreed  in  opposing  the  claims  of  the  free  colored 
people  to  a  share  in  the  government. 

During  the  early  weeks  of  the  revolution  there  had  been 
evidences  of  a  disposition  in  Paris  to  grant  to  this  class 
citizenship.  The  principles  of  the  revolution  really  in- 
cluded such  extension  of  rights,  and  some  of  the  colonists,  as 
Charles  Lameth,  thought  that  slavery  could  be  best  main- 
tained by  uniting  the  people  of  color  to  the  cause  of  the 
Planters.  The  colonial  commission  in  Paris  favored  this 
view  and  in  some  parishes  the  free  mulattoes  had  been 
called  into  the  primary  assemblies.  The  government 
favored  the  people  of  color  and  sought  their  support.  In 
the  Spanish  part  of  the  island  the  free  colored  people  were 
politically  on  an  equality  with  the  whites.  The  Provincial 
Committee  of  the  West  was  strongly  in  favor  of  giving  this 
class  full  political  and  civil  rights.^"" 

But  the  agitation  for  emancipation  of  the  slaves,  carried 
on  so  vigorously  by  the  Amis  des  Noirs  soon  caused  the 
Planters  to  look  with  distrust  upon  everything  that  might 
arouse  the  slaves  to  a  sense  of  their  manhood.  Among  the 
causes  for  fear  was  the  granting  of  political  rights  to  the 
free  blacks.  This  would  have  made  the  slaves  more  discon- 
tented, it  was  thought.  The  colonists  fought  bitterly  all 
concessions  to  the  colored  people ;  and  the  merchants  and 
deputies  of  the  great  commercial  cities  of  France  gave  the 
colonists  the  heartiest  support. 

20*  Dalmas,  i.,  49 ;  La  Croix,  i.,  23  ;  Garran,  i.,  jo6 ;  U,,  7,  8. 


8o  The  People  of  Color  Before  the  Passage  of  the 

There  were  many  outrages  committed  upon  the  people 
of  color  and  the  whites  who  favored  their  cause.  Some  men- 
tion has  already  been  made  of  these.  It  is  difficult  to  secure 
reliable  accounts  of  the  relations  of  the  two  races  in  the 
islani^,  but  of  the  fact  of  such  outrages  there  can  be  no 
question.^"  The  Assembly  of  the  West  voted  (21  May, 
1790)  that  in  taking  the  civil  oath  the  colored  people  must 
promise  to  "  remain  submissive  to  the  whites,  to  observe 
the  respect  which  they  owed  them  and  to  shed  their  blood 
for  them."^"*  The  Baron  de  Beauvais  of  the  Superior 
Council  of  the  North  and  very  prominent  in  the  political 
affairs  of  the  colony  wrote  a  book  to  prove  the  negroes 
nothing  but  a  higher  order  of  orang-outang,  and  no  more 
worthy  of  political  rights  than  these  animals.  The  mulat- 
toes  were  an  unnatural  species.'"® 

In  the  colony  the  Assembly  of  the  North  was  bitterly  op- 
posed to  the  proposition  to  give  political  rights  to  the  people 
of  color.^^"  The  Assembly  at  St.  Marc  was,  in  general,  op- 
posed to  any  extension  of  suffrage  to  this  class,  but  granted 
them  some  amelioration  of  their  hardships.^"  Charmilly 
says  that  the  Assembly  fixed  a  method  by  which  mulattoes 
of  illegitimate  birth  could  inherit  of  their  mother ;  that  it 
considered  the  question  of  granting  them  representation  ; 
and  that  it  was  strongly  moved  in  favor  of  the  men  of 
color.^^^  Thomas  Millet,  another  member  of  the  General 
Assembly,  says  it  had  good  intentions  in  regard  to  the  peo- 
ple of  color,  but  as  Garran  says,  "  all  that  one  finds  about 
them  in  its  acts  is  very  astonishingly  inconsistent  with  this 
assertion."  It  would  not  allow  them  to  come  near  the  place 
of  meeting ;  it  searched  their  correspondence  ;  it  refused  to 
recognize  as  a  white  man  any  white  man  who  should  marry 
a  mulattress  ;  it  refused  to  allow  enfranchisement  of  slaves 
without  its  approval.^^^ 

The  president  of  the  Assembly  of  the  South  told  them 
they  should  be  obedient  and  show  respectful  deference  to 
the  whites  and  never  to  expect  to  share  in  public  duties  and 

2°'''  Space  and  our  purpose  do  not  admit  an  account  of  these  persecu- 
tions. See  Garran,  ii.,  8-32  ;  30-37  ;  Gaterau,  42-48  ;  Madiou,  i.,  39,  40,  48- 
51  ;  Madiou  follows  Garran. 

308  Garran,  i.,  113  ;  ii.,  14:  La  Croix,  i.,  23,  24. 

30*  Garran,  ii.,  23-25. 

^^^  Adresse  de  V  AssembUe  Provinciate  de  la  Partie  du  Nord  de  Saint-Do- 
mingue,  h  V  Assemble  Nationale  (Paris,  1790),  15. 

'"  Edwards,  iii.,  50,  51. 

"*53,  54. 

"^.Garran,  ii.,  27-30.    Adresse  cited  in  reference  192,  11,  12. 


Act  of  the  Twelfth  of  October.  8i 

public  rights. ^''^  They  were,  of  course,  not  allowed  to  vote 
in  the  assemblies  that  decided  upon  the  continuation  of  the 
General  Assembly.  Just  before  its  end  this  Assembly  saw 
how  short-sighted  its  policy  had  been  and  attempted  to  win 
the  support  of  the  colored  people  by  certain  measures.  It 
was  too  late,  and  the  people  of  color  joined  Mauduit's  army 
against  the  Assembly.  Some  of  the  people  of  color  in  Paris 
protested  against  the  acts  of  the  General  Assembly.^^**  As 
a  class  they  were  faithful  to  the  king  and  National  Assem- 
bly until  after  the  twelfth  of  October. 

*^^  Garran,  ii.,  36. 

^'5  Lettre  des  Citoyens  de  Couleur  a  M.  le  President  de  V  Assembl^e  Nationale 
du  premier  aoiHt  lygo  (Paris,  1790). 


CHAPTER  IX. 

SAN  DOMINGO  AFTER  THE   DEPARTURE  OF  THE    GENERAL 

ASSEMBLY. 

The  departure  of  the  General  Assembly  from  the  island 
did  not  mean  that  its  cause  was  lost  there ;  on  the  contrary 
its  very  absence  seemed  to  arouse  its  supporters  to 
new  life  and  to  divide  its  opponents.  Within  a  short 
time  such  parishes  as  Dondon,  Limbe,  Petit-Goave, 
Petite-Riviere,  Verettes,  Port-de-Paix,  Port  Margot,  Saint 
Rose,  Grand  Riviere,  Borgne,  Cayes,  the  commune  of  Port- 
au-Prince,  Ouanaminthe,  Fort  Dauphin,  Trou,  Cotteaux, 
Torbeck,  Cayes-du-Fonds,  Saint  Louis,  Cavaillon,  Aquin, 
Grand-Goave,  Boynet,  L^ogane,  Jacmel,  Cayes-des-Jacmel, 
Petit-Trou,  Limonade,  Marmelade,^^®  in  one  way  or  another 
declared  their  sympathy  with  the  General  Assembly.  This 
list,  although  not  complete,  embraces  more  than  one-half  of 
the  parishes  of  the  colony  and  many  of  the  North.  Incon- 
testably  the  voters  in  these  parishes  supported  the  General 
Assembly,  that  is,  the  Planter  class  adhered  to  their  repre- 
sentatives. The  Moniteur  points  out  that  many  of  these 
provinces  recognized  the  supreme  power  of  the  National 
Assembly  ;  but  protestations  of  fidelity  at  this  time  were 
probably  dictated  by  policy. 

After  the  departure  of  the  General  Assembly  the  rivalry 
between  the  governor  and  the  Assembly  of  the  North, 
which  had  disappeared  for  a  time,  broke  out.  It  was 
charged  that  Peinier,  as  early  as  August  sixteenth,  sent  or- 
ders to  have  the  Assembly  dissolved^"  and  that  he  and 
Mauduit  were  plotting  a  counter  revolution  in  sympathy 
with  the  ^migr^s  and  the  royal  princes.  They  certainly  acted 
in  a  peremptory  manner,  regardless  of  the  National  Assem- 
bly, arresting  prominent  enemies,  as  Caradeux,  a  member  of 
the  General  Assembly,  and  seizing  private  property.^^^  By 
order   of  the    governor,   Mauduit    (i8  August)  invited  the 

316  Mouvelles  de  Saint- Domin^ue,  Nos.  6,  7,  11,  12,  15.  [The  Nouvelles  was 
published  by  the  Eighty-five  in  Paris  to  represent  their  cause.  It  contains 
much  documentary  and  epistolary  evidence  regarded  by  the  Moniteur 
(1791,  26)  as  valuable]  ;  Moniteur,  1790,  No.  316,  supplement ;  1791,  26. 

31''  Moniteur,  1790,  1237  ;  La  Croix,  i.,  52. 

^^^  Moniteur y  1790,  1237  ;  Nouvelles  de  Saint- Domingue,  No.  6. 


San  Domingo  After  Departure  of  General  Assembly,    83 

mulattoes  and  free  negroes  to  join  the  troops.^^'  Soldiers 
brought  from  the  Cape  had  refused,  on  arrival  at  Port-au- 
Prince,  to  fight  against  the  citizens  and  had  riots  with  the 
regular  troops.'" 

The  "  patriotic  army  "  gathered  at  L^ogane  to  protect 
the  Assembly  of  St.  Marc  had  been  collected  mainly  from 
the  South,  and  in  this  part  of  the  colony  much  hostility  to 
the  established  authorities  was  revealed.  The  government 
was  too  weak  to  assert  its  authority  there.^^'  After  the  de- 
parture of  the  General  Assembly  there  was  nothing  to  be 
gained  by  continuing  the  war  since  the  quarrel  must  be  de- 
cided by  the  National  Assembly.  The  proposition  looking 
toward  the  conclusion  of  a  peace  proceeded  from  the  sup- 
porters of  the  General  Assembly.^^^  After  negotiations  in 
which  the  rebels  were  obliged  to  yield  nearly  all  demands 
of  the  governor,^^^  an  agreement  was  reached,  and  on  the 
twenty-third  the  Treaty  of  L^ogane  was  ratified.  This  was 
strictly  a  truce  or  suspension  of  hostilities.  The  confedera- 
tion of  the  South  strengthened  itself  and  did  not  cease  to 
regard  the  governor  as  its  bitter  ^nemy.  Within  three  days 
after  the  ratification  of  the  treaty,  charges  and  counter- 
charges of  non-fulfillment  of  its  conditions  were  made  by 
the  leaders  of  the  two  parties.^^* 

On  the  day  after  the  conclusion  of  the  treaty  a  number 
of  parishes,  chiefly  of  the  South,  formed  a  confederation  for 
the  advancement  of  their  common  interests  and  the  com- 
batting of  oppression.  Until  the  National  Assembly  should 
give  a  decision  it  would  forego  a  part  of  its  rights  and  it 
consented  to  negotiate  with  *'  M.  Peinier."  An  executive 
council  of  sixteen  members  had  authority  to  levy  taxes, 
raise  an  army  and  concert  with  the  municipalities  neces- 
sary measures.^^^ 

In  spite  of  a  protest  from  the  Assembly  of  the  North 
against  this  body,  many  parishes  joined  the  confederation 
of  the  South,  which  continued  to  exercise  the  power  which 
had  been  in  the  hands  of  the  General  Assembly,  although  its 


^*^  Nouvelles  de  Saint- Domingue,  No.  13;  No.  6,  p.  2. 

820  Ibid,  No;  6,  p.  4. 

821  Garran,  276  ;  Nouvelles  de  Saint- Domingue,  No.  14,  No.  28,  pp.  4,  5. 

822  Nouvelles  de  Saint- Domingue,  No.  12,  p.  6  ;  Garran,  i.,  278.  Many  let- 
ters bearing  on  these  negotiations  may  be  found  in  the  Nouvelles,  No.  28, 
pp.  1-12  ;  and  Moniteur,  [790,   1245. 

^'^^  Nouvelles,  No.  14,  p.  19  ;  Moniteur,  ijgo,  1265. 

^^*  Nouvelles,  No.  13.  pp.  2-11. 

^^^ Moniteury  1790,  No.  316,  supplement. 


84  San  Domingo  After  the  Departure 

attention  was  confined  to  matters  of  practical  importance 
rather  than  to  constitutional  questions."" 

On  the  twenty-ninth  of  August  de  Peinier  ordered  the  pri- 
mary assemblies  to  elect  delegates  to  a  new  colonial  assem- 
bly. A  large  majority  refused  outright,  others  paid  no  at- 
tention to  the  matter  and  others  simply  re-elected  their  dele- 
gates to  the  General  Assembly."^  The  departure  of  this 
body  for  France  had  discredited  the  charges  of  a  desire  for 
independence  and  had  strengthened  its  position.  The  As- 
sembly of  the  North  was  weak.  Gerard  declared  (25  Nov.) 
in  the  National  Assembly  that  he  had  official  information 
from  eleven  parishes  of  the  withdrawal  of  their  delegates 
from  this  Assembly  and  that  he  had  reliable  authority  for 
saying  that  nineteen  of  the  parishes  of  the  North  had  dis- 
avowed its  acts.  Barnave  admitted  that  many  parishes  did 
not  recognize  it."^  Many  excesses  were  committed  in  this 
time  of  confusion.  The  courts  instead  of  restoring  order 
seemed  rather  to  assist  in  creating  anarchy."' 

The  president  of  the  National  Assembly  and  the  Minister 
of  Marine  seem  to  have  be^n  inexcusably  slow  in  rendering 
official  news  to  the  colony.  The  letter  accompanying  the 
decree  of  the  twelfth  of  October  was  dated  November  the 
third  and  reached  the  island  not  until  the  middle  of  Febru- 
ary. The  first  unofficial  information  of  this  decree  was  not 
received  until  December  the  seventh^'"  but  then  aroused 
great  enthusiasm  in  all  opponents  of  the  General  As- 
sembly.^^^ 

Had  the  Assembly  of  the  North  and  the  governor  shown 
any  willingness  to  conciliate  those  who  wished  to  unite 
with  it  the  troubles  might  have  been  settled,  but  both  fac- 
tions were  very  arrogant  over  their  victory.  Peinier, 
tired  of  the  strife,  resigned  and  returned  to  France.  He 
had  tried  to  carry  out  the  wishes  of  the  National  Assembly. 
Although  he  was  not  a  strong  man  his  character  on  the 
whole  commands  respect  and  his  administration  our  ap- 
proval, until  the  arrival  of  Mauduit.     Under  the  influence 


^^^  Moniteur,   1790,    1333;    Nouvelles,   No.   6,7;  No.  12,  5  ;    Garran,  i., 
298,  299. 
^'^'^  Nouvelles,  Nos.  ii,  6,  12,  11  ;  Placide-Justin,  191. 
^"^^  Nouvellesy   No.  6,  7,  and  7,  7.     Archives,   xx.,    744;  Garran.   i.,  302, 

307. 

^'^^ Nouvelles,  Nos.  7,  12,  28;  Moniteur,  1781,  25.  Garran.  i.,  307-309; 
Adresse  h  Messieurs  de  V  Assemblie  Nationale  (Paris,  1790?),  written  by 
Imbert. 

830  Garran,  i.,  309,  322. 

8«*  Moniteur^  1791,  197,  225,  371. 


of  the  General  Assembly,  85 

Ij^oi  this  aggressive  adherent  of  the  royal  power  his  course 
'became  severe  and  despotic.     His  successor  was  Rouxel  de 
Blanchelande,   an  officer  who  had  had  some  successful  ex- 
perience in  the  army.     He  soon  fell  under  the  influence  of 
Mauduit. 

The  military  power  of  the  governor  was  strengthened ; 
and  interference  with  personal  liberty  and  the  mails  con- 
tinued. At  one  time  there  were  rumors  that  he  intended 
to  dissolve  the  Assembly  of  the  North  but  all  complaints 
ended  in  professed  friendship.  The  Assembly  sent  com- 
missioners to  reside  near  him ;  and  he  urged  the  refractory 
parishes  of  the  North  to  send  delegates  to  it.^^^ 

2^^  Garran,  i.,  313-318  ;  Moniteur,  1791,  371. 


CHAPTER  X. 

OG^'S   REBELLION. 

During  the  last  three  months  of  1790  the  colony  was  much 
alarmed  by  a  rebellion  of  the  mulattoes  which,  although 
speedily  checked,  threatened  at  one  time  to  result  in  a  gen- 
eral rising  of  that  class.  Among  the  numerous  young  mu- 
lattoes in  Paris  was  a  San  Domingan  by  the  name  of  Og^.^^^ 
Brought  up  and  educated  in  the  island  he  had,  in  1789,  gone 
to  Paris  and  had  become  attached  to  Raimond,  with  him 
had  heard  Mirabeau,  Lafayette,  Gr^goire  and  other  ardent 
friends  of  the  negroes  set  forth  the  rights  of  man  and  ex- 
pose the  wrongs  of  the  negroes.  In  the  attempts  to  secure 
from  the  National  Assembly  the  extension  of  political  rights 
to  the  free  people  of  color,  he  took  an  active  part,  but  all 
seemed  in  vain  and  he  brooded  over  the  idea  that  a  great 
step  must  be  taken — that  some  one  must  be  a  Moses  to  his 
people.  Lacking  the  moderation  of  Raimond,  who  tried  to 
convince  him  that  their  cause  must  finally  triumph,  and  that 
any  attempt  to  gain  their  ends  by  arms  must  result  in  a  post- 
ponement of  the  day  of  liberty  for  their  race,  he  resolved 
after  the  passage  of  the  decrees  of  the  Eighth  and  Twenty- 
eighth  of  March  that  force  must  be  used  and  that  he  must 
lead  his  people.  The  latter  of  these  decrees  said  that  "  all 
persons  "  were  entitled  to  political  rights  and,  in  his  opinion, 
that  meant  all  free  people  of  color.  To  him  the  subtle  ar- 
gument that,  since  the  decree  of  the  Eighth  of  March  said 
that  no  change  was  intended  in  the  status  of  persons  in  the 
island,  since  the  second  decree  was  expressly  stated  to  be 
instructions  for  the  carrying  out  of  the  fii^  and  since  in- 
structions could  not  contradict  that  whiclk  they  were  de- 
signed to  explain,  these  decrees  intended  tfliJnclude  only 
whites  in  the  list  of  citizens,  was  merely  the  chili|nery  of  the 
Club  Massaicandits  adherents,  designed  to  cheaf^e  people 
of  color  of  those  rights  so  long  fought  for  and\p  hardly 
won.  With  the  ardor  of  youth  and  a  burning  desii'e  to  cor- 
rect evils,  impetuous  and   impressed  with  the  great  story  of 

233  General  authority  on  Oge  and  this  revolt  are  Garran,  ii.,  42-73  ;  Ma- 
diou,  i.,  52-62. 


Ogfs  Rebellion,  87 

wrongs  endured  so  long  by  his  race,  he  felt  that  he  was 
called  to  be  a  deliverer. 

His  plans  became  known  and  every  effort  was  made  to 
prevent  his  departure.  It  was  next  to  impossible  for  any 
colored  man  to  leave  France,  for  in  every  part  were  those 
who  were  on  the  watch  to  hinder  all  such  from  embarking. 
In  league  with  these  planters  were  the  merchants  and  ship 
captains  of  France,  so  that  had  a  mulatto  succeeded  in  get- 
ting on  board  as  a  stowaway,  he  was  certain  to  be  discovered 
and  either  handed  over  to  the  authorities  on  reaching  the 
colony  or  returned  to  France.  When  it  was  known  that  Og^ 
was  planning  some  movement  for  his  people,  particular  pains 
were  taken  to  prevent  any  such  enterprise.  All  precautions 
were  redoubled  and  so  successfully  that  he  was  unable  to  get 
passage  for  the  island.  Finally  under  an  assumed  name  he 
succeed  in  reaching  England  and,  after  an  interview  with 
Clarkson,  from  whom  he  secured  money  and  letters,  Og^ 
sailed  for  Charleston,  S.  C,  whence  he  secured  passage  to 
his  native  island,  reaching  the  Cape  October  the  twelfth. 
At  night  he  landed  safely,  for  it  seems  that  no  one  had  an- 
ticipated his  coming  from  "  New  England  "  as  the  writers 
of  the  times  sometimes  called  the  recently  emancipated  colo- 
nies, and  was  at  once  off  for  his  old  home  at  Dondon,  close 
to  the  Spanish  border.  Here  with  his  friends  he  spent  the 
last  quiet  days  of  his  life  in  preparation  for  the  venture  he 
was  about  to  make.  He  collected  a  small  force  of  mulat- 
toes — even  his  enemies  do  not  put  the  number  at  over  three 
hundred — arranged  with  his  brethren  of  the  South  for  a 
rising  there  and  then  boldly  declared  himself  and  his  pur- 
pose.^^ 

On  the  twenty-eighth  of  October,  with  his  little  army  and 
with  his  friend  Jean  Baptiste  Chavaune  as  second  in  com- 
mand, he  attacked  the  village  of  Grande-Riviere,  refusing  to 
adopt  the  urgent  suggestions  of  his  friends  that  he  arouse 
the  slaves  to  rebellion.  From  that  step  he  recoiled,  the  time 
was  not  ripe.  Only  for  what  he  considered  legal  and  con- 
stitutional rights,  wrongfully  withheld,  did  he  struggle. 
Noble  and  simple  were  the  words  in  which  he  announced  to 
Peinier  his  object :  "  No  !  No !  Monsieur,  le  comte,  we 
will  not  remain  under  the  yoke  as  we  have  for  two  centuries  ; 
the  rod  of  iron  that  has  beaten  us  is  broken ;  we  demand 
the  execution  of  this  decree  ;  avoid  then  by  your  prudence 
an  evil  which  you  cannot  allay.  My  profession  of  faith  is 
to  secure  the  execution   of  the  decree  which    I    helped  ob- 

^Moniteury  1790,  1475,  1479. 


88  Og^s  Rebellion. 

tain,  to  repel  force  by  force  and  finally  to  bring  to  an  end  a 
prejudice  as  unjust  as  it  is  barbarous."  Nor  did  his  actions 
belie  his  words.  Always  he  restrained  his  followers  from 
murder  and  cruelty.  Two  dragoons  were  brought  before 
him  as  prisoners  but  he  dismissed  them  saying  "  no  evil  will 
be  done  you,  we  are  not  men  of  blood  ;  in  that  we  do  not 
resemble  men  of  your  caste."  In  his  letters  he  insisted  that 
he  came  only  to  secure  the  execution  of  the  detree  of  March 
twenty-eighth,  and  that  he  did  not  include  in  his  demands 
the  amelioration  of  the  lot  of  the  slave.^^^ 

Throughout  the  province  his  appearance  caused  fear.  The 
governor  issued  a  proclamation  calling  upon  the  people  to 
combine  against  the  common  foe,  forgetting  their  sources  of 
dissension  for  the  while.^^^  An  extraordinary  session  of  the 
Assembly  was  called,  a  price  set  on  Og^'s  head  and  Vincent 
sent  against  him  with  six  or  eight  hundred  men.  But  the 
mulattoes  repulsed  this  force,  three  times  the  size  of  their 
own.  Finally  this  little  handful  was  scattered  by  an  army 
six  times  its  size,  with  artillery,  and  under  a  skillful  general. 

With  a  few  followers  Og^  and  Chavaune  fled  across  the 
Spanish  line  for  refuge,  but  they  were  hunted  down  and 
after  the  interchange  of  letters  with  Blanchelande,^"  who 
had  meanwhile  become  governor,  Don  Garcia,  governor  of 
the  Spanish  colony  surrendered  them  to  the  French  au- 
thorities."" It  was  a  great  day  at  the  Cape  when  the 
corvette  La  Favorite  brought  into  the  harbor  these  high 
traitors,  and  a  profitable  voyage  the  gifts  of  the  citizens 
made  it  for  Negrier,  her  captain.  In  the  South  an  insurrec- 
tion under  the  lead  of  Rigaud  was  quelled  by  Mauduit."" 

The  Superior  Council  of  the  Cape  and  the  Assembly  of 
the  North  quarreled  over  the  question  who  had  a  right  to 
try  the  criminals.  The  former  was  victorious  and  accused 
them  of  sedition,  robbery,  murder  and  intention  to  arouse 
the  slaves  to  revolt.  Through  the  months  of  January  and 
February  the  trial  dragged  along,  although  the  accused  were 
not  heard,  and  were  not  allowed  counsel.  On  the  twenty- 
third  of  February  the  verdict  was  given  that  these  two  men 
"  shall  be  conducted  by  the  Chief  Executive  before  the  par- 
ish church  of  this  city,  and  there  bare-headed  and  in  their 
shirts,  with  a  rope  around  their  necks,  on  their  knees,  and 

336  Ibid,  1495. 

33«  Ibid,  1791,  45. 

337  Ibid,  1791,  45,  181. 

338  Ibid,  1791,  249,  Ardouin,  i.,  150-157. 

339  Moniteur^  1791.  53  J  Edwards,  iii.,  70,  71. 


Og^^s  Rebellion,  89 

having  in  their  hands  each  a  torch  of  burning  wax  of  the 
weight  of  two  pounds,  they  shall  apologize  and  declare  in  a 
high  and  intelligible  voice  that  it  was  wicked,  rash  and  ill- 
advised,  that  they  have  committed  the  crimes  of  which 
they  were  convicted,  that  they  repent  and  ask  pardon  of 
God,  of  the  king,  and  of  justice ;  this  done  they  shall  be 
conducted  to  the  place  d'  armes  of  this  city,  to  the  side  op- 
posite to  the  part  designed  for  the  execution  of  the  whites, 
and  there  have  arms,  legs,  thighs  and  back  broken  alive, 
upon  a  scaffold  to  be  arranged  for  this  purpose,  and  then 
shall  be  placed  on  wheels,  faces  turned  toward  the  sky,  to 
remain  there  so  long  as  it  shall  please  God  to  preserve  their 
lives;  this  done  their  heads  shall  be  cut  off  and  exposed  on 
posts."  Another  companion  of  Og^  was  broken  alive, 
twenty-one  were  hung  and  thirteen  sent  to  the  galleys  for 
life,  while  the  rest  suffered  penalties  of  less  severity.  How 
much  the  whites  feared  the  blacks  is  evident. 

After  Og^'s  death  a  document  was  produced  purporting 
to  be  his  testament  in  which  he  confessed  to  having  shared 
in  a  plot  for  a  great  uprising  on  the  plantations.'"  That 
such  a  document  should  be  so  contrary  to  all  his  declara- 
tions while  alive  and  to  his  actions  is  sufficient  to  render  it 
worthy  of  suspicion,  especially  as  it  was  not  produced  until 
nine  months  after  his  death.  In  a  long  discussion  Garran 
shows  that  both  the  circumstances  of  Og^'s  trial  and  death, 
and  the  statements  made  in  the  document  itself  render  it 
very  certain  that  the  paper  is  a  forgery."'  Even  were  it 
really  written  by  Og^,  any  statement  made  by  him  in  the 
hope  of  escaping  death  and  under  severest  torture  could 
not  be  regarded  of  great  value. 

The  charge  has  also  been  made  against  him  that  he  was 
an  agent  of  la  Luzerne  and  other  reactionists  sent  out  to 
bring  about  a  counter-revolution."'  Such  an  incredible 
story  could  have  obtained  even  the  slight  credence  it  had 
only  during  the  Reign  of  Terror,  when  anything  was  believed 
of  the  monarchy  and  its  adherents.  Instead  of  desiring  to 
overthrew  the  National  Assembly  and  its  decrees,  Og^  de- 
sired to  secure  their  recognition.  Neither  he  nor  his  race 
could  have  expected  anything  from  a  restoration  of  mon- 
archy, and  the  government  authorities  were  too  far-sighted 
not  to  see  that  a  slave  insurrection  or  a  revolt  of  the  free 

^''Edwards,  iii.,  235-244. 
^'  Garran,  ii.,  54-65. 

2^2  Page,  Discours  Historique  sur  les  causes  et  les  dhastres  de  la  partie 
franfaise  de  Saint-Domingue^  etc.  (Paris,  1793)  7-9  ;  Edwards,  iii.,  244. 


$6  Og^'s  Rebellion, 

people  of  color  would  simply  result  in  a  union  of  all  the 
colonists  and  all  the  commerce  of  France  against  it.  How- 
ever much  Og^'s  imprudence  may  be  condemned,  it  must 
be  admitted  that  he  was  a  sincere  martyr  to  the  cause  of 
liberty.  That  justice  and  order  demanded  his  death  for  in- 
citing rebellion  and  for  taking  the  execution  of  the  law  into 
his  own  hands  is  incontestable,  but  his  name  must  be  placed 
with  those  of  the  John  Browns  and  Charlotte  Cordays. 


CHAPTER  XL 

THE  POWER  OF  THE  GOVERNMENT  OVERTHROWN. 

On  the  second  of  March  a  squadron  of  five  ships,  con- 
taining regiments  of  Artois  and  Normandy,  arrived  at  Port- 
au-Prince.  During  the  voyage  there  had  been  many  evi- 
dences of  insubordination,  so  that  de  Villages,  the  com- 
mander, said  he  would  probably  not  have  been  able  to  land 
his  troops  elsewhere  than  at  the  capital,  where  they  wished 
to  go."^  This  mutinous  spirit  was  due  to  the  spread  of  the 
revolutionary  spirit,  to  a  feeling  that  in  coming  to  San 
Domingo  they  were  to  support  the  old  regime,  and  to  the 
influence  of  the  mutiny  at  Brest  a  few  months  before. 

The  colony  was  not  unprepared  for  the  coming  of  these 
republicans.  The  Eighty-five  still  maintained  that  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  was  the  representative  of  the  people  and 
some  of  them  had  returned  to  the  island  and  were  active  in 
opposing  the  Governor.  Cocherel  had  resigned  his  seat  in 
the  National  Assembly  after  the  decree  of  the  Twelfth  of 
October,  and  devoted  himself  in  the  colony  to  the  cause  of 
the  dissolved  Assembly."*  Continual  agitation  against  the 
existing  administration  was  kept  up  by  these  men.  Toward 
the  end  of  February  a  false  decree,  of  considerable  celebrity 
subsequently,  was  spread  among  the  soldiers.  It  purported 
to  have  been  passed  by  the  National  Assembly  in  Decem- 
ber, and  declared  the  decree  of  the  Twelfth  of  October  re- 
voked.'" On  account  of  this  agitation  Blanchelande  feared 
to  have  the  disaffected  troops  come  and  tried  to  have  the 
regiments  landed  at  the  Mole,  but  unsuccessfully.  After  a 
hurried  consultation  de  Villages  and  Blanchelande  decided 
to  send  the  squadron  and  troops  back  to  the  North.  They 
addressed  the  soldiers,  and  at  first  the  regiment  of  Nor- 
mandy showed  no  discontent,  but  having  communicated  with 
that  of  Artois  it  joined  the  latter  in  refusing  to  go  and  in 
requesting  that  they  be  allowed  to  send  delegations  of  four 
men  from  each  company  into  the  city.**®  This  request  was 
granted.     After  these  delegations  had  seen  Blanchelande's 

^^Garran,  i.,  325. 

8^  Ibid,  328. 

^  Moniteur,  1791,  476  ;  Garran,  i.,  329-331. 

^*^r<r>4tV^j,  XXV.,  335  sq.     OflScial  report    of  de  Villages,  de  Courvoyer 


92  The  Power  of  the  Government  Overthrown. 

instructions  from  the  home  government  and  had  learned  that 
he  was  empowered  to  send  them  where  he  deemed  it  expe- 
dient, they  consented  to  go  to  the  Mole  if  they  might  have 
three  or  four  days  rest  at  Port-au-Prince.  They  had  com- 
municated with  the  city  and  knew  they  would  have  a  warm 
welcome  from  the  citizens.  Blanchelande  did  not  dare  re- 
fuse. He  also  yielded  to  some  demands  of  the  Committee 
of  the  West  with  regard  to  the  enrollment  of  the  Pompons 
Blancs  in  the  volunteers  and  the  wearing  of  cockades.^^ 

On  the  ships  the  sailors  mutinied  on  the  third  of  March, 
and  although  at  first  reduced  to  obedience  by  de  Villages, 
they,  with  the  soldiers  of  the  two  regiments,  were  so  in- 
fluenced by  citizens  and  soldiers  from  the  city  that  it  was 
impossible  to  control  them  after  Blanchelande  had  shown 
himself  so  lacking  in  firmness.  They  all  went  ashore,  and 
as  de  Villages  said  **  finally  everything  was  in  confusion." 
On  shore  the  citizens  had  taken  things  into  their  own  hands, 
opening  the  prisons.  The  people  of  color  released  Rigaud 
and  others  prominent  in  the  mulatto  rebeUion  contempora- 
neous with  that  of  Og^.^® 

The  commander  of  the  regiment  of  Port-au-Prince  says 
that  his  regiment  remained  faithful  until  the  false  decree  was 
spread  about.^*  This  made  them  discontented  ;  but  disci- 
pline was  entirely  destroyed  in  the  local  regiment  as  a  result 
of  the  conduct  of  the  regiments  recently  arrived.  These 
new  comers  not  only  were  in  sympathy  with  the  people  but 
refused  to  fraternize  with  the  regiment  supporting  the  gov- 
ernor until  it  should  restore  the  popular  assemblies  and 
atone  for  the  wrong  done  the  National  Guard  of  the  island 
by  Mauduit  on  the  twenty-ninth  of  July,  by  restoring  the 
colors  then  seized.^^" 

It  should  be  remembered  that  the  regiment  of  Port-au- 
Prince  had  really  remained  a  part  of  the  old  troops  of  the 
line,  not  having  undergone  the  renovation  which  resulted  in 
the  National  Guards. 

Mauduit  advised  Blanchelande  to  flee  and  the  state  of  af- 
fairs was  such  that  the  governor  followed  this  advice.  Mau- 
duit was  seized  by  his  own  soldiers.  To  the  demand  of  the 
officers  of  the  district  that  the  flags  taken  in  August  be  re- 

who  succeeded  Mauduit  and   of  the  Municipality  of   Port-au-Prince  are 
given. 

**'  Garran.  i.,  336-338. 

34^  Madiou,  i.,  63. 

^^  Archives,  xxv.,  337. 

350Qarran,i.,  339,  340. 


The  Power  of  the  Government  Overthrown.  93 

stored  he  assented  and  sent  soldiers  to  make  public  restitu- 
tion to  the  commune.  He  even  consented  to  surrender  per- 
sonally the  colors  before  the  house  in  which  they  were 
seized.  When  there,  however,  he  refused  to  kneel  and 
apologize  for  the  insult  done  the  people.  He  was  instantly 
murdered,  and  among  the  assassins  were  many  of  his  own 
soldiers-  His  body  was  horribly  mutilated.^"  His  anti- 
republican  sentiments,  his  arbitrary  conduct  in  San  Domin- 
go, the  intrigues  of  his  enemies,  the  arrival  of  the  new  regi- 
ments tinged  with  the  most  advanced  republicanism,  the  cir- 
culation of  the  false  decree  which  had  a  remarkable  effect,'®' 
all  conspired  to  bring  about  the  final  result.  The  regiments 
of  Artoisand  Normandy  are  said  not  to  have  participated  in 
or  approved  of  this  butchery  and  they  did  what  they  could 
to  restore  order.^^^ 

The  supporters  of  the  General  Assembly  had  triumphed. 
The  government  of  Port-au-Prince  was  intrusted  to  a  muni- 
cipality, composed  largely  of  the  old  members  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  the  West.  It  abolished  the  office  of  intendant, 
organized  a  new  Superior  Council  and  formed  an  armed 
force.^^"*  De  Villages  had  to  recognize  the  supremacy  of  the 
new  government.  It  requested  the  governor  to  return,  as- 
suring him  of  safety,  and  sent  addresses  to  the  king  and  Na- 
tional Assembly  declaring  its  submission  to  the  decree  of 
the  twelfth  of  October.'^' 

The  success  of  the  movement  in  the  capital  led  the  par- 
ishes very  generally  to  approve  the  course  of  the  munici- 
pality of  St.  Marc.  All  but  one  or  two  came  into  union 
with  it.  The  history  of  April  and  May  reveal  little  that  is 
of  importance.  The  air  of  the  island  seemed  to  breed  dis- 
cord. The  most  important  of  the  minor  quarrels  was  be- 
tween the  regiments  of  Artois  and  Normandy  on  the  one 
hand  and  that  of  Port-au-Prince  on  the  other.  The  latter 
was  inclined  to  support  the  old  regime,  but  was  sent  back  to 
France  and  afterward  did  good  service.^^^ 

Blanchelande  refused  to  return  to  Port-au-Prince  and  re- 
mained at  the  Cape.     He  tried  to  secure  troops  to  restore 

351  Edwards,  iii.,  81,  82  ;  Dalmas,  i,,  95-100  ;  Garran,  i.,  341-343  ;  Madiou, 
i.,  63.  64  ;  Chotard,  Precis  de  la  Revolution  de  Saint- Do J7iingue  depuis  le  Jin 
de  i']8gjusqu'  au  18  Juin,  i'jg4  (Philadelphia,  1795),  36-40  ;  Archives,  xxv., 
338. 

^^^ Moniteur,  1791,  476  ;  Garran,!.,  343-348. 

853  Chotard,  41. 

35*  Madiou,  i.,  65  ;  Garran,  i.,  349. 

355  Garran,  i..  351. 

356  Ibid,  i.,  355-358. 


94  The  Power  of  the  Government  Overthrown. 

his  authority.'"  He  seems  to  have  been  at  times  on  the  best 
of  terms  with  the  Assembly  of  the  North  and  then  again  to 
have  quarrelled  with  it.  He  was  received  by  it  with  great 
honor  and  afterwards  charged  with  counter-revolutionary 
projects.  Garran  thinks  there  is  reason  for  believing  that 
Blanchelande  was  endeavoring  to  overthrow  the  power  of 
the  National  Assembly  and  to  restore  the  old  regime.^^^  But 
the  adherents  of  the  former  General  Assembly  had  full 
sway  until  the  breaking  out  of  the  rebellion  of  the  mulat- 
toes  followed  by  one  on  the  part  of  the  slaves  introduced  a 
worse  state  of  anarchy  than  had  hitherto  existed. 

3^''  Discours  justificatif  de  F hilibert-Fran^ois  Rouxel  Blanchelande,   ancien 
Gouverneur  des  Isles  Francois  sous  le  Ventde  V  Amerique  (Paris,  1793),  7. 
2"i.,  360-362. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  DECREE  OF  THE   FIFTEENTH   OF  MAY,  1 79 1. 

After  the  passage  of  the  decree  of  the  Twelfth  of  October 
the  affairs  of  the  colonies  were  not  before  the  Assembly  much 
for  some  months.  Commissioners  were  in  November  sent 
to  Martinique  to  settle  troubles  similar  to  those  in  San  Do- 
mingo, and  were  given  full  authority.  On  the  first  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1 791,  the  Assembly  voted  to  send  to  San  Domingo 
three  civil  commissioners,  authorized  to  maintain  order  and 
the  public  tranquility,  with  power  to  suspend  judgment  in 
criminal  cases  begun  on  account  of  the  troubles  in  the  is- 
land. The  Assembly  had  also  voted  to  send  six  thousand 
troops  to  the  Antilles.^'^ 

During  all  this  time  the  members  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly had  remained  in  Paris.  With  the  Club  Massaic  and  the 
delegates  of  the  commercial  cities  they  tried  to  secure  the 
passage  of  an  act  which  should  place  the  control  of  com- 
mercial relations  in  the  hands  of  a  joint  committee. ^^°  Al- 
though the  General  Assembly  had  been  dissolved  the  fate  of 
the  Eighty-five  had  not  been  decided  and  they  had  been 
kept  in  France  as  a  measure  of  safety.  Barnave  stated  that 
many  recognized  and  repented  of  their  errors.  He  read  a 
letter  from  this  faction  in  which  they  confessed  their  errors, 
admitted  the  authority  of  the  National  Assembly  and  prom- 
ised obedience  to  it.  This  letter  was  signed  by  forty-six 
old  members,  including  several  who  had  been  prominent  in 
the  agitation.  But  a  large  proportion  of  the  original  Eighty- 
five  did  not  subscribe  to  the  views  contained  in  this  docu- 
ment.^" 

On  the  thirteenth  of  March,  1791,  a  letter  was  read  to 
the  National  Assembly  from  the  former  General  Assem- 
bly demanding  that  some  decision  be  made  as  to  their 
fate,  or  that  they  be  allowed  to  return  to  their  homes. 
They  were  granted  permission  to  appear  the  next  day,  as 
individuals,    but   not   as  members  of  any  body.^^^     Linguet 

^^'^  Archives,  xxv.,  127  ;  xxii,  666.     The   officially  printed  copy  of  the  law 
is  dated  11  February. 
3«0Garran,  ii..  77-79. 

2^'  Archives,  xxiii.,  679,  680  ;  xxv.,  340,  341. 
^^'^  Ibid,  xxiv.,  463,  464. 


g6  The  Decree  of  the  Fifteenth  of  May^  lygi. 

acted  as  their  spokesman,  but  some  of  their  treasonable 
utterances  made  after  the  twelfth  of  October  could  not 
be  explained  away.  On  motion  of  Barnave  the  Assembly 
voted  to  refer  the  instructions  drawn  up  for  the  government 
of  the  colony,  together  with  the  petition  from  the  members 
of  the  former  General  Assembly,  to  a  committee  composed 
of  the  committees  on  the  Constitution,  on  the  Marine,  on 
Agriculture,  on  Commerce,  and  on  the  Colonies.^^^ 

The  ultra-republicans  of  a  later  period  who  secured  Bar- 
nave's  death  on  the  revolutionary  scaffold,  made  many  ani- 
madversions on  his  connection  with  the  colonies.  Garran 
intimates  that  he  was  bribed  and  that  he  was  trying  to  se- 
cure the  separation  of  the  administration  of  the  Colonies 
from  that  of  the  Marine,  and  the  appointment  of  himself  as 
minister  in  charge,  although  he  admits  there  are  only  more 
or  less  vague  presumptions  to  support  the  charge.  He  also 
charges  him  with  having  proposed  to  the  different  factions  a 
kind  of  coalition  which  might  work  a  general  reconciliation 
and  save  the  colony.^®"*  He  did  accomplish  much  in  the  way 
of  harmonizing  divergent  parties,  but  there  is  no  reason  for 
charging  him  with  a  selfish  motive  for  doing  this.  Page, 
BruUey  and  le  Grand,  commissioners  sent  to  San  Domingo 
in  1793,  also  make  charges  against  Barnave  and  say  that  he 
confessed  to  having  been  deceived."^ 

But  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  the  honesty  and  high- 
mindedness  of  Barnave.  The  proclamations  and  acts  of  the 
Colonial  Assembly  alone  are  sufficient  to  convict  this  body 
of  having  acted  in  opposition  to  the  National  Assembly  and 
are  sufficient  to  justify  Barnave's  course.  The  charges  were 
brought  against  him  in  a  later,  more  radical  period,  when  any 
one  who  had  tried  to  retain  royalty,  introduce  a  limited 
monarchy,  and  harmonize  conflicting  interests,  was  looked 
back  upon  as  an  ultra-royalist.  The  evidence  for  the  charges 
against  Barnave  is  insignificant  and  general  presumption 
strongly  in  his  favor. 

On  the  seventh  of  May,  Delattre,  in  the  name  of  the 
committee  appointed  on  the  thirtieth  of  March,  introduced 
an  act  which  should  be  a  constitutional  law  for  the  colony. 
The  committee  desired  first  of  all  to  secure  the  safety  and 
continued  existence  of  the  colony.     In  accordance  with  the 

3«3  Ibid,  xxiv.,  486-491  ;  580-597. 

3«4  Garran  i.,  128  ;  ii.,  76,  82-86. 

3"  ^  la  Convention  Nationale,  r^ponse  de  Page  et  Brulley,  commissaires  de 
St.  Domingue,  d^puth  prh  la  convention  nationale  aux  colonnies  qu'  on  a  fait 
signer  au  citoyen  Belleyi^a^tis  ?),  i,  2. 


The  Decree  of  the  Fifteenth  of  May,  iygi»  97 

act  of  the  Twelfth  of  October,  it  held  that  the  right  of  mak- 
ing laws  upon  personal  status  should  remain  with  the  colo- 
nies. The  first  article  of  the  decree  was  :  **  The  National 
Assembly  decrees  as  a  constitutional  article  that  no  law  upon 
the  status  of  persons  may  be  made  by  the  legislative  body 
except  upon  the  precise  and  formal  demand  of  the  colonial 
assemblies."  It  also  provided  that  a  congress  of  delegates  of 
the  principal  West  Indian  colonies  should  meet  at  St.  Mar- 
tin to  consider  the  status  of  the  colored  people  and  that  its 
decision,  when  approved  by  the  Assembly,  should  be  a  final 
settlement  of  this  question.^"' 

The  debate  that  followed  was  a  brilliant  one  and  all  the 
leading  members  of  the  Assembly  participated.  It  occu- 
pied six  days  (7,  11-15  May).  Deputations  and  petitions 
from  all  the  contending  interests  were  received.  Og^'s  death 
had  aroused  much  interest  throughout  France  in  the  cause 
of  the  people  of  color."^  The  newspapers  and  theatres  as- 
sisted in  the  agitation.  The  debates  in  the  Assembly  were 
stormy.  The  supporters  of  the  measure  argued  that  every 
people  should  have  the  initiative  in  matters  pertaining  ex- 
clusively to  themselves  ;  that  to  give  the  free  people  of  color 
suffrage  would  incite  the  slaves  to  revolt ;  that  if  the  measure 
were  not  passed  the  colonists  would  revolt  and  surrender  the 
colony  to  England ;  and  that  the  passage  of  the  act  was 
necessary  as  a  protection  to  French  commerce.  The  friends 
of  the  mulattoes,  on  the  other  hand,  represented  that  re- 
fusal to  allow  the  free  colored  people  to  vote  was  not  con- 
sistent  with  the  Declaration  of  Rights  ;  that  by  the  strict 
wording  of  the  Instructions  of  March  Twenty-eighth  they 
were  entitled  to  the  suffrage ;  that  by  the  Edict  of  1685 
they  had  enjoyed  equal  rights  with  the  whites  ;^^^  that  there 
would  be  no  more  danger  of  disaffection  among  the  slaves 
by  reason  of  giving  the  people  of  color  political  rights  than 
there  had  been  in  giving  them  civil  rights  ;  that  in  the 
Spanish  part  of  the  island  the  free  mulattoes  had  political 
rights  without  endangering  the  existence  of  slavery ;  and 
that  mere  justice  entitled  them  to  rights  they  were  qualified 
to  enjoy. 

As  the  days  passed  it  was  evident  that  the  party  favoring 
the  people  of  color  was  gaining  ground.  On  the  fifteenth 
Rewbell  proposed  the  following  amendment,  really  a  substi- 
tute for  the  bill :  "  The  National  Assembly  decrees  that  the 

3^^  Archives,  xxv.,  638  sq. 

^^^  Dalmas,  i.,  109,  no  ;  Edwards,  iii.,  85  ;  Ardouin,  i.,  158  sqq. 

2^^  True  stricti  juris  put  in  practice  far  from  true. 


98  The  Decree  of  the  Fifteenth  of  May,  ijgi. 

legislative  body  will  never  deliberate  on  the  political  state 
of  the  people  of  color  who  are  not  born  of  free  father  and 
mother  without  the  previous  desire,  free  and  spontaneous, 
of  the  colonies ;  that  the  colonial  assemblies  actually  exist- 
ing shall  continue  ;  but  that  the  people  of  color  born  of  free 
father  and  mother  shall  be  admitted  to  all  the  future  parish 
and  colonial  assemblies,  if  they  have  in  other  respects  the 
required  qualifications."  This  was  passed  after  much  oppo- 
sition."'" 

With  the  passage  of  this  act  a  new  period  in  the  history 
of  the  colony  begins.  During  the  first  two  years  of  the 
French  Revolution,  the  history  of  the  French  part  of  San 
Domingo  was  largely  the  history  of  its  white  inhabitants. 
The  questions  of  slavery  and  of  the  political  status  of  the 
free  blacks  were  important  political  factors,  but  during  this 
time  the  negroes  were  not  the  chief  actors.  Since  the 
fifteenth  of  May,  1791,  the  history  of  the  colony  has  been 
the  history  of  the  blacks,  either  in  their  struggle  for  free- 
dom or  in  their  life  after  its  acquirement. 

On  the  sixteenth  of  May  the  deputies  of  the  colony  with- 
drew from  the  National  Assembly  f  all  parties  of  whites 
from  the  colony  united  to  oppose  the  decree  ;  many  treason- 
able letters  were  sent  to  the  island  f^  the  white  colonists 
went  there  to  oppose  the  execution  of  the  decree  ;  in  the 
island  there  were  bitter  attacks  on  the  National  Assembly 
and  preparations  were  made  for  resistance.  Blanchelande 
refused  to  carry  out  the  provisions  of  the  law  and  a  new 
assembly  was  chosen  to  which  the  blacks  were  not  admitted. 
In  July,  convinced  that  their  rights  could  be  gained  in  no 
other  way,  themulattoes  rose  in  armed  insurrection.  In  the 
fall  the  slave  revolts  followed.  For  years  after  the  island 
was  a  scene  of  bloodshed  and  horror. 

'^'^^  Archives,  xxv.  and  xxvi.,  under  7,  11-15,  21,  27-29  May. 

^''oibid,  xxvi.,  122. 

^"  Garran,  ii.,  91-105,  gives  many  extracts  from  such  letters. 


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